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CLAUDE'S    BOOK 


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CLAUDE'S  BOOK 


EDITED  BY 

L.  ^KELWAY-BAMBER 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTORY  LETTER  FROM 
SIR  OLIVER  LODGE 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 
1919 


TO 

THE   MANY   FRIENDS 

AT  WHOSE  REQUEST  IT  HAS  BEEN  PUBLISHED 

"CLAUDE'S  BOOK" 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

A  Letter  from  Sir  Oliver  Lodge      .       .       .  ix 

Reply  to  Sir  Oliver's  Letter.  ....  xiii 

Introduction xv 

A  Few  Tests xix 

I.    Claude's  Talks 1 

"His  Death  and  New  Life"     .       .       .  1 

"Death's    Surprises" 9 

"  Certain  *  Mundane '  Matters  "  .       .       .  16 

"The   Christ" 25 

"Of  Reincarnation" 28 

"  Guides,  Inspiration,  and  God  "  .       .       .  38 

"A  Day's  Work" 45 

"  Various  People,  Children,  and  Affinities  "  51 

"  The  Diffifculties  of  Communication  "      .  58 
"  The    Spheres    and    the    Source    of    All 

Power" 62 

"  Physical  Limitations "        ....  73 

"  Man's   Connection  with   God "               .  76 

"  Man's  Beginning " 81 

"  The     Madonna    and    a     Little     Earth- 
Mother"   85 

"The  Aura" 89 

"  Astrals  and  Thought-Forms  "    .       .       .93 
"  Religion    and     Science,     Thought,    and 

Thoughts" 100 

II.   Claude's  Letters    .......  105 

vii 


A  LETTER  FROM  SIR  OLIVER  LODGE 

Dear  Mrs.  Kelway-Bamber, — 

I  have  read  the  type-script  of  your  son's  book, 
and  though  it  may  strike  people  as  rather  crude  I 
am  impressed  by  the  honesty  and  simpHcity  and 
straightforwardness  of  its  material. 

I  know  that  what  has  been  written  is  a  genuine 
un-edited  though  necessarily  abbreviated  record  of 
what  has  come  through  a  thoroughly  honest  me- 
dium, with  whom  you  have  had  the  exceptional  pri- 
vilege of  weekly  sittings  for  more  than  two  years; 
and  I  have  every  reason  to  know,  from  certain  evi- 
dential messages,  that  the  communicating  intelli- 
gence is  really  your  son's.  You  do  not  here  quote 
these  evidences,  partly  for  the  sake  of  brevity  but 
chiefly  because  so  much  has  already  been  published 
of  the  domestic  and  trivial  kind,  and  you  desire,  as 
Claude  does,  to  call  attention  to  what  they  have  to 
say  about  the  nature  of  posthumous  existence. 

You  are,  of  course,  well  aware  that  no  sort  of 
infallibility  is  attributable  to  such  utterances,  but 
they  are  undoubtedly  instructive  and  philosophers 
of  high  standing  have  urged  that  statements  of  this 

ix 


X  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

kind  ought  to  be  made  accessible.  They  represent 
at  worst  a  psychological  phenomenon ;  while  at  best 
they  convey  the  impressions  of  an  eager  new- 
comer to  the  other  side,  who  with  a  gift  of  vivid 
statement  is  anxious  to  convey  to  you  as  much  as 
he  has  so  far  learnt  about  the  conditions  which  at 
his  particular  stage  of  development  are  encountered 
there. 

On  all  recondite  problems  there  are  probably  as 
many  opinions  over  there  as  there  are  here,  and  it 
is  unlikely  that  in  dealing  with  what  corresponds 
to  scientific  or  philosophic  fact  he  has  arrived  at 
much  of  importance;  but  concerning  elementary 
details  of  life  and  conduct  his  witness  agrees  in  the 
main  with  that  of  others,  and  the  wisest  and  best 
informed  among  critical  students  of  the  subject  will 
be  able  to  learn  most  from  consistent  statements  of 
this  kind.  It  has  been  responsibly  urged  that  honest 
and  undoctored  records  of  actual  subjective  expe- 
rience will  ultimately  enable  philosophers  to  system- 
atise posthumous  existence  in  their  general  scheme 
of  the  universe,  and  undoubtedly  yours  is  an  in- 
teresting instalment  of  the  necessary  raw  material; 
though  at  times  it  goes  beyond  actual  experience 
and  trespasses  on  the  fanciful  with  too  much  of 
what  is  presumably  hearsay  and  secondhand  in- 


A  LETTER  FROM  SIR  OLIVER  LODGE    xi 

formation — about  reincarnation,  for  instance — all 
which  for  my  part  I  discount.  But  in  spite  of  this 
I  sympathise  with  your  desire  to  publish  the  mes- 
sages received  from  your  active  and  energetic  son 
as  a  whole,  without  selection  or  suppression,  and  to 
submit  them  to  the  harsh  criticism  of  a  rather  puz- 
zled world. 

Yours  faithfully, 

OLIVER  LODGE 


REPLY  TO  Sm  OLIVER'S  LETTER 

26th  July  1918 
My  dear  Sir  Oliver, — 

Thank  you  for  your  letter.  I  am  very  grateful 
to  you  for  the  interest  and  trouble  you  have  taken 
in  the  prefatory  matter,  and  will  print  your  criticism 
on  Claude's  Book  in  the  forefront  of  the  volume,  if 
you  have  no  objection.  I  make  no  claim  for  the 
book,  except  that  it  is  his,  for  it  is  the  "  honest  and 
undoctored  "  record  of  what  he  has  told  me. 

Claude  professes  to  have  no  special  privilege  of 
any  kind,  and  says  hundreds  of  people  who  have 
"  passed  over  "  could  tell  their  relatives  all  he  has 
told  me,  but  lack  the  opportunity. 
With  kind  regards. 

Yours  sincerely, 
L.  KELWAY-BAMBER 


xm 


INTRODUCTION 


V. 


There  was  no  intention  originally  of  publishing 
these  "talks,"  and  it  must  be  understood  that  the 
terms  used  in  this  little  book  are  the  "  nearest  equi- 
valent "  to  the  conditions,  or  states,  or  feelings 
Claude  wishes  to  explain  or  describe  to  his  mother, 
and  cannot  always  be  perfectly  technically  accurate, 
because  for  certain  things  in  the  spirit-world  we 
have  no  exact  expression,  as  they  are  beyond  our 
normal  experience. 

Many  things  have  been  omitted:  all  references, 
for  instance,  to  his  family,  his  friends,  current 
'"vents,  and  so  forth. 

Up  to  the  time  he  was  killed,  Claude's  mother  was 
entirely  sceptical  as  to  the  possibility  of  communica- 
tion between  the  living  and  the  so-called  "  dead," 
and  it  was  only  through  her  deep  grief  at  his  pre- 
mature loss  that  she  decided  to  investigate,  in  the 
faint  hope  that  there  might  at  least  be  some  definite 
comfort  in  it.  She  spent  three  months  in  reading 
and  studying  the  subject,  then  joined  the  "  London 
Spiritualist  Alliance  Ltd."  (now  at  6  Queen  Square, 

XV   - 


xvi  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Southampton  Row),  and  attended  their  lectures  and 
meetings,  which  proved  most  instructive  and  useful, 
eventually  going  to  several  mediums  for  private 
sittings.  She  was  very  fortunate  in  getting  many 
evidential  tests,  a  few  of  which  are  recorded  in  the 
preliminary  portion  of  this  book. 

These  communications,  which  were  written  down 
on  each  occasion,  have  all  been  received  through 
"  Feda  "  in  a  series  of  regular  sittings  during  the 
past  two  years.  She  is  the  "  spirit-control  "  of  Mrs. 
Osborne  Leonard,  to  whom  Claude's  mother  is  in- 
debted for  many  very  happy  hours.  ^ 

Claude  was  one  of  the  merriest,  happiest  boys, 
full  of  irrepressible  spirits  and  extraordinary  vital- 
ity; he  had  a  very  keen  sense  of  humor,  and  a  well- 
balanced  mind. 

He  always  expressed  himself  very  well,  and  ex- 
plained things  very  clearly.  He  could  go  from 
grave  to  gay  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  often 
introduced  a  "  quip,"  or  an  amusing  sentence,  or  a 
joke,  in  the  middle  of  a  solemn  conversation,  and 
this  is  still  characteristic  of  him;  these  have  been 
generally  omitted,  as  people  who  did  not  know  him 
"might  misunderstand  and  think  he  was  not  in  earn- 
est, but  they  are  very  evidential  as  so  typical  of  the 
boy. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

It  may  be  understood  that  when  he  says  "  I 
think,"  or  "  It  may  be,"  he  is  recording  his  own 
impressions  and  ideas;  when  he  states  anything  defi- 
nitely as  a  fact  it  is  something  he  has  been  taught 
or  told  by  experienced  guides  and  teachers. 

Claude  joined  the  Army  immediately  war  began 
in  August  1914,  without  waiting  for  a  commission, 
which  he  obtained  in  October.  He  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  Flying  Corps  and  was  trained  as 
a  pilot.  He  was  killed  in  mid-air,  fighting  two  Ger- 
man aeroplanes,  near  Courtrai,  Flanders,  in  Novem- 
ber, 191 5,  three  months  after  he  went  to  the  Front; 
his  machine  came  down  in  the  enemy  lines.  A  few 
of  his  letters  are  printed  for  purposes  of  compari- 
son with  the  "  talks." 


A  FEW  TESTS 

On  29th  February  1916  I  attended  a  public  seance 
at  the  rooms  of  the  "Alliance."  Mrs.  Brittain 
was  the  clairvoyante.  There  were  a  number  of 
people  present.  I  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  room; 
no  one  knew  me  there.  I  had  never  seen  her  before, 
as  she  had  just  come  from  the  North.  Going  home 
by  "  Tube  "  I  found  myself  standing  next  to  Mrs. 
Brittain  in  the  lift.  Though  I  did  not  know  her 
I  spoke  to  her,  making  some  remark  about  the  meet- 
ing we  had  just  left.  She  replied,  and  then  said, 
"  Excuse  me,  but  are  you  a  medium?"  I  said  I  was 
not,  and  asked  what  made  her  think  it  was  possible. 
Her  reply  was,  "  Because  you  have  a  spirit  boy  with 
you;  he  is  so  clear  and  so  strong  it  is  difficult  to 
realize  you  can't  see  him!"  I  asked  for  a  descrip- 
tion, and  she  said,  "  He  is  tall,  slight,  and  fair ;  blue 
eyes,  smooth  hair,  well  brushed  off  his  forehead, 
which  is  well  developed;  he  is  very  young  and 
boyish-looking;  clear,  smooth  skin;  a  very  happy, 
merry  disposition."  This  is  correct,  and  was  the 
first  description  I  received  of  him,  though  I  often 

xix 


XX  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

felt  he  was  with  me.  On  Tuesday,  14th  March, 
that  is,  a  fortnight  later,  I  went  to  Mrs.  Osborne 
Leonard  for  my  first  private  sitting.  I  had  ar- 
ranged to  visit  her  by  calling  and  fixing  a  time,  but 
gave  her  no  name,  nor  address,  nor  particulars  of 
any  kind ;  she  is  a  trance  medium,  and  it  was  evident 
that  her  little  spirit-control  "  Feda  "  was  in  touch 
with  the  boy.  Curiously  enough  my  boy  did  not 
show  himself  in  his  uniform.  "  Feda  "  described 
him ;  then  said,  "  He  has  a  grey  suit  on,  and  he  tells 
me  to  tell  you  he  is  wearing  it  to  prove  to  you  he 
was  with  you  yesterday  when  you  were  searching 
everywhere  for  that  suit."  This  was  a  fact;  I  had 
looked  all  over  the  house  for  it  the  day  before,  in- 
tending to  give  it  to  a  boy  I  knew.  "  He  shows  me 
a  medal  and  says  they  have  given  him  here  what 
he  did  not  get  on  earth."  (He  had  been  recom- 
mended for  a  decoration,  but  was  killed  a  few  days 
later. )  "  Feda  "  then  said,  "  I  don't  know  why 
he  had  a  medal  if  he  wasn't  a  soldier.  He  did  not 
pass  over  in  illness.  I  get  a  rushing  feeling  as  if 
I  were  falling;  my  head  is  numb,  and  my  throat  is 
wrong."  These  were  evidently  the  boy's  death- 
conditions,  and  as  the  subject  was  very  painful  for 
us  both  I  asked  no  questions  about  it.  "  Feda " 
then  proceeded  to  tell  me  Claude  had  been  with  me 


A  FEW  TESTS  xxi 

to  a  place  "  where  there  were  mountains  and  a  river 
which  made  a  noise  rushing  over  stones."  He  said 
he  had  been  for  a  walk  with  me  when  I  climbed 
a  stile  into  a  wood.  This  was  correct;  I  had  just 
returned  from  Scotland.  He  asked  if  I  had  received 
some  photos  of  him  and  his  friends  "  ragging  "  out- 
side his  tent.  I  had  not  received  them  then,  but 
they  came  later,  and  included  one  in  which  a  friend 
was  taken  with  his  head  hanging  down  and  his  feet 
in  the  air,  supported  by  companions. 

On  Monday,  loth  April,  I  attended  another  public 
seance  at  the  **  Alliance  "  rooms.  The  medium  on 
this  occasion  was  a  Mr.  Von  Bourg.  He  was  an 
absolute  stranger  to  me.  I  had  never  seen  him 
before.  The  meeting  was  crowded.  After  giving 
a  few  other  descriptions,  he  spoke  to  me  and  de- 
scribed some  spirit- friends  he  said  he  could  see  with 
me ;  and  proceeded,  "  There  is  a  young  airman,  very 
happy-looking,  only  been  passed  over  a  few  months. 
He  is  tall  and  slight,  fair  smooth  skin,  fair  hair, 
brushed  well  back,  blue  eyes,  clear  skin— do  you 
know  him?"  I  said,  "Yes,  he  is  my  son."  He 
then  described  a  boy  called  "  George,"  whom  I 
knew,  giving  his  name.  He  also  talked  of  some  one 
called  "  John,"  and  said  he  was  a  very  beautiful 
spirit,  looked  about  twenty,  and  said  he  was  a  near 


xxii  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

relative  of  mine.  I  could  not  place  him,  and  thought 
it  was  a  mistake,  and  determined  to  ask  Claude 
about  it  at  my  next  private  sitting,  which  happened 
to  be  next  day  with  Mrs.  Osborne  Leonard.  He 
was  full  of  interest  and  excitement,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Why,  he's  your  brother.  Mum !"  I  was  very  much 
surprised  and  said,  "Why,  my  brother  died  when 
he  was  four  years  old!"  and  Claude  said  (through 
"Feda"),  "But  people  grow  up  here;  they  don't 
remain  babies!"  Even  then  I  could  not  appreciate 
the  idea,  and  said,  "  But  he  would  have  been  forty 
now,  and  the  medium  said  he  looks  twenty !"  "  So 
he  does,"  was  the  reply;  "  and  he  never  will  look  old, 
for  here  one  grows  up  but  has  no  material  body 
to  age."  This  I  think  a  wonderful  test,  for  I  was 
only  five  years  old  when  that  little  brother  died,  and 
had  not  thought  of  him  for  years,  and  then  only  as 
a  child.  At  a  sitting  with  Mrs.  Osborne  Leonard 
on  30th  May  "  Feda  "  began  the  sitting  by  saying, 
"  Claude  is  here ;  he  is  laughing  very  much ;  he  looks 
so  funny,  *  Feda  *  did  not  know  him  at  first.  He 
has  very  dirty  things  on,  all  covered  with  grease, 
and  oil,  and  black.  'Feda'  does  not  like  Claude 
in  those  clothes !  He  says  you  will  know  them."  I 
did ;  they  were  the  "  overalls  "  he  wore  at  the  work- 
shops where  he  was  learning  Mechanical  Engineer- 


A  FEW  TESTS  xxiii 

ing.  He  was  noted  there  for  the  amount  of  dirt  he 
managed  to  get  off  the  machinery  on  to  himself! 
it  was  quite  a  family  joke.  The  other  men  always 
said  they  pitied  the  woman  who  washed  his  clothes. 

At  a  sitting  on  nth  November  Claude  said, 
among  other  things  about  his  spirit-body,  "  It's  just 
the  same  as  the  other,  down  to  the  wart  on  my 
finger."  This  was  good,  as  on  his  last  leave  we  tried 
to  persuade  him  to  see  the  doctor  about  an  unsightly 
wart  that  had  grown  on  one  hand. 

I  could  go  on  almost  indefinitely  with  various 
tests,  and  will  conclude  with  one  of  another  kind. 
At  a  sitting  in  May  in  19 17  with  "  Feda,"  Claude 
brought  the  spirit  of  a  friend  who,  he  said,  had 
only  passed  over  a  very  few  days  before.  A  week 
later  this  man  was  reported  "  missing  "  in  the  offi- 
cial list  in  the  papers ;  no  further  news  was  received 
of  him.  All  dates  and  particulars  were  noted  at  the 
time  for  future  verification. 

L.  KELWAY-BAMBER 


I.— CLAUDE»S  BOOK 

HIS  DEATH  AND  NEW  LIFE 

1  WAS  rather  depressed  as  I  went  out  to  my  machine 
that  last  November  morning,  I  don't  know  why.  I 
certainly  had  no  presentiment  of  evil;  but,  once 
started,  my  spirits  rose  as  usual,  and  I  felt  quite 
cheery  and  singularly  free  from  nervousness. 

Many  men  here  have  since  told  me  this  rather 
curious  fact,  that  on  the  occasion  of  their  last  fight, 
whether  in  the  air  or  in  the  trenches,  nervousness 
left  them.  I  don't  know  whether  the  spirit  instinc- 
tively knows  its  fate  and  braces  itself  to  meet  it,  or 
if  one's  spirit-friends  are  able  to  make  their  presence 
and  comfort  felt  at  that  supreme  crisis,  but  probably 
it  was  the  only  occasion  on  which  I  was  absolutely 
free  of  all  fear. 

When  we  were  attacked  by  two  enemy  aeroplanes 
my  feeling  was  one  of  acute  irritation,  for  we  were 
on  our  way  back  after  finishing  some  work  over  the 
enemy  lines.  I  felt  harassed,  too,  as  I  climbed,  and 
turned,  and  dived  here  and  there  to  attack.  My 
observer  said  something,  and  I  remember  putting  the 
nose  of  the  machine  down  to  get  below  one  of  our 


2  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

opponents,  when  I  felt  a  terrible  blow  on  my  head, 
a  sensation  of  dizziness  and  falling,  and  then  noth- 
ing more. 

It  may  have  been  a  fortnight  or  more  later  (we 
have  no  account  of  **  time  "  here,  so  I  cannot  be 
sure)  that  I  became  conscious  again.  I  felt  dizzy 
and  stupid  but  was  not  in  pain,  and  on  collecting 
my  thoughts  and  looking  round,  found  myself  in 
bed  in  an  unknown  room. 

Before  thought  took  definite  form  I  felt  I  had  been 
passing  through  space.  My  body  seemed  to  have  be- 
come light.  I  wondered  i f  I  was  in  hospital,  and  i  f  any- 
one had  written  to  tell  you  I  was  wounded.  Nurses 
moved  about  the  room;  if  I  attempted  to  talk  or  ask 
questions  a  doctor  came  to  my  side  and,  putting  his 
hand  on  my  head,  soothed  me  to  silence  again. 

Several  more  days  must  have  passed.  I  rested, 
dozing  and  peaceful ;  it  never  seemed  to  get  dark. 

On  one  occasion  when  the  kindly  doctor  came  to 
my  bedside  I  asked  him  where  I  was,  and  if  my 
people  knew  of  my  whereabouts.  He  did  not  soothe 
me  to  sleep,  as  usual,  but  sat  down  beside  me. 

"  I  want  to  have  a  talk  with  you  and  explain 
things,"  he  said.  "  You  are  not  on  the  earth  now ; 
you  are  no  longer  on  the  Physical  plane." 


HIS  DEATH  AND  NEW  LIPE  3 

I  didn't  understand,  and  asked,  "  Surely  I  am 
in  a  private  hospital?  " 

"  No,"  he  replied ;  "  you  have  passed  out  of  the 
physical  body  and  are  in  the  state  you  used  to  know 
as  having  died." 

I  could  not  believe  him.  "  Great  Scot !  You 
don't  mean  I'm  dead !  " 

"We  will  use  that  term  simply  as  it's  the  only 
one  you  understand  just  now,"  he  said.  "  You  are 
alive  and  are  starting  the  fuller  and  more  beautiful 
life;"  but  the  feeling  I  had  was  one  of  sudden  loss 
and  loneliness  and  almost  desperation. 

"  Is  my  mother  here,  or  have  my  father  or  brother 
come?    If  they  are  not  here  I  don't  want  to  stay!" 

"  You  will  have  to  stay,"  was  the  reply ;  "  and  if 
you  will  only  be  patient  you  will  find  life  interesting 
and  beautiful." 

"  It  won't  be  interesting,  it  won't  even  be  bear- 
able if  they  are  not  here,"  I  exclaimed  indignantly. 

"  Can  I  go  to  my  mother  ?  I  must  see  her  and 
know  she  can't  see  me  before  I  can  believe  what  you 
say  is  true.    I  feel  as  if  it  were  all  a  dream." 

Then  a  gentleman  came  to  speak  to  me  who  I  was 
told  was  my  grandfather,  but  as  I  had  never  seen 
him  before  it  did  not  convince  me,  and  I  felt  as  if 
I  was  living  altogether  in  a  dream. 


4  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Others  came  who  claimed  to  be  relatives  and 
friends,  including  several  ladies  who  kissed  me,  but 
as  I  knew  none  of  them  I  remained  inconsolable,  and 
my  friend  the  doctor  promised,  as  soon  as  it  was 
suitable,  I  should  be  sent  to  see  you,  that  the  truth 
might  be  proved  to  me 

A  few  days  later  I  was  told  I  was  to  be  taken 
home  to  see  you. 

I  can't  remember  the  exact  details  of  that  even- 
ing, as  I  was  shaken  with  conflicting  emotions  which 
chased  through  me — joy,  and  fear,  and  hope,  and 
grief,  and  impatience,  and  almost  despair  of  the  un- 
known future  into  which  I  had  plunged  without  you. 

I  passed  with  the  two  friends  who  guided  me 
through  the  Astral  plane  to  the  earth.  As  we  came 
nearer,  the  atmosphere  became  thicker  and  misty, 
and  the  houses  and  everything  seemed  indistinct, 
the  view  disappeared,  and  I  found  myself  standing 
in  your  room  at  the  foot  of  your  bed, 

A  terrible  feeling  of  despair  filled  my  heart,  for 
I  knew  what  I  had  been  told  was  true :  I  was  indeed 
"  dead." 

You  were  sitting  up  in  bed  in  an  agony  of  grief, 
the  tears  streaming  down  your  face,  repeating  my 
name  over  and  over  again,  and  calling  me,  and  saw 
me  not. 


HIS  DEATH  AND  NEW  LIFJ^  5 

I  had  expected  a  cry  of  joy,  but  it  never  came. 
I  bent  forward  and  called  as  loudly  as  I  could, 
"  Mummy,  I'm  here ;  can't  you  see  or  hear  me  ?  " 

You  made  no  reply.  I  went  to  your  side  and  put 
my  arms  round  you,  and  though  you  were  not  con- 
scious of  my  presence  I  seemed  to  be  able  to  soothe 
you,  for  you  became  calmer  and  lay  down. 

I  felt  as  if  I  were  fainting,  and  had  no  will  to 
resist  when  my  guides  took  me  away  back  to  the 
hospital. 

I  felt,  however,  that  your  love  was  mine  still; 
I  could  feel  its  power,  I  understood  it  and  realized 
it  better  than  ever  before.  It  was  a  spiritual  caress, 
and  I  felt  it  through  every  fibre  of  my  body,  and  was 
full  of  thankfulness.  I  knew,  too,  that  in  all  my  life 
your  love  had  never  failed  me,  and  that,  even  now,^ 
you  would  find  a  way,  if  it  were  possible,  to  bridge 
the  gulf  between  us — you  would  never  let  me  "  drop 
out." 

When  I  realized  this,  I  knew  the  worst  was  over, 
and  the  bitterness  of  death  had  passed.  .  .  . 
Worn  by  my  emotions,  I  slept  and  woke  later  in 
quite  a  different  mood. 

I  found  a  young  man  seated  at  my  bedside  who 
said,  "  Well,  old  chap,  we've  pulled  through."  He 
has  since  become  a  friend  of  mine;  his  name  is 


6  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

"Joe  "  (you  did  not  know  him  personally,  but  you 
know  of  him,  and  know  whom  I  mean). 
V  A  sense  of  adventure  now  filled  my  mind ;  I  felt 
full  of  health  and  well-being,  and  was  longing  to 
explore  this  new  country. 

I  jumped  out  of  bed  and  dressed,  and,  escorted  by 
Joe,  my  grandfather,  and  quite  a  number  of  other 
relatives  and  friends,  went  to  a  home  that  was  ready 
for  me. 

This  consisted  of  a  bedroom  and  a  jolly  little 
sitting-room,  a  "den,"  with  a  piano,  a  sofa,  and 
an  arm-chair  in  it,  in.  a  house  where  there  was 
similar  accommodation  for  other  men.  It  stands  in 
a  delightful  garden. 

I  made  up  my  mind  to  be  happy  and  settle  down 
in  my  new  surroundings  as  soon  as  I  could.  I  asked 
one  of  my  guides  if  it  was  a  "  thought- world  "  we 
were  in,  though  the  ground  felt  quite  substantial  to 
my  feet ;  and  he  said,  "  It  is  more  real  and  perm- 
anent than  the  one  you  have  left.'Vl  bent  down  and 
poked  my  finger  in  the  soil  and  found  it  left  a  hole, 
and  the  soil  stuck  under  my  nail.   .    .    . 

We  went  for  a  walk  through  beautiful  woods  and 
fields;  the  turf  was  springy,  the  air  soft  and  clear, 
and  soft  sunshine  over  everything. 

We  then  returned  to  the  house  and  explored  the 


HIS  DEATH  AND  NEW  LIFE  7 

grounds.  There  is  a  beautiful  fountain  with  spark- 
ling water  in  it.  I  made  a  cup  of  my  hand  and 
drank  a  little,  but  did  not  need  it,  and  asked  my 
companion  what  would  happen  if  I  drank  too  much. 
"  You  will  not  drink  too  much,  that  would  be  fool- 
ish ;  and  if  you  were  foolish  you  would  not  be  here, 
as  each  man  earns  his  environment  by  his  conduct. 
By  the  working  of  the  natural  law  you  gravitate 
to  the  place  for  which  you  are  suited ;  what  is  within 
you  draws  you  automatically." 

I  bathed  in  a  glorious  lake  the  water  of  which 
was  slightly  scented.  It  ran  off  my  body  as  I 
stepped  out,  almost  as  if  it  were  running  off  marble 
or  alabaster.   .    .    . 

I  became  accustomed  to  my  new  life  and  found 
innumerable  friends,  both  new  and  old;  all  were 
ready  and  anxious  to  help  me  in  every  way, 
Yl  asked  to  be  taken  to  see  you  again,  Mummy,  but 
was  told  it  was  inadvisable  for  a  little  while,  as  your 
mind  was  undergoing  great  changes,  and  you  were 
learning  many  psychic  truths.  I  was  told  that  I 
was  much  blessed  in  my  mother,  for  your  grief  had 
roused  all  the  spiritual  in  you,  and  my  passing 
would  not  divide  but  unite  us  more  closely  than  ever 
before.  And  indeed  it  has  proved  so,  for  you  know 
that,  after  the  war,  had  I  come  through  it,  I  should 


8  CLAUDE'S  BOOK         ^ 

probably  have  taken  an  appointment  abroad  and  not 
been  able  to  come  home  for  years ;  whereas  as  it  is 
I  come  home  and  see  you  every  day  and  you  feel 
my  presence,  and  know  you  have  only  to  concentrate 
your  thoughts  on  me,  and  your  desire  for  my  pres- 
ence, and  the  thought,  "  somehow  and  somewhere," 
will  reach  me  and  I  will  come.    / 


DEATH'S  SURPRISES 

[  I  DID  not  think  of  death  often,  Mum,  even  when  I 
faced  it  every  day,  for  it  all  seemed  so  indefinite. 

I  quite  hoped  if  I  did  "  go  out,"  in  consideration 
of  the  fact  that  I  had  tried  to  do  my  bit,  I  should 
find  myself  in  Heaven;  but  the  prospect,  honestly, 
as  usually  presented,  did  not  appeal  to  me.  You 
know  I  didn't  care  very  much  for  music,  and  the 
idea  of  sitting  on  a  throne  clad  in  a  white  robe  play- 
ing a  harp  sounded  terribly  boring,  so  I  trusted  to 
luck  and  left  it  at  that. 

I  know  now  the  whole  mistake  lies  in  looking 
upon  death  as  the  end  of  "activity"  (with  a  re- 
newal at  some  indefinite  date),  whereas  as  a  matter 
of  fact  it  is  an  incident  only,  though  a  very  im- 
portant one,  in  a  continuous  life.  Your  feelings, 
your  memory,  your  love,  your  interests  and  ambi- 
tions remain;  all  you  have  left  behind  (and  even 
that  one  cannot  at  first  realize)  is  the  physical  body, 
which  proves  to  be  merely  the  covering  of  the 
spiritual  to  enable  it  to  function  in  a  material  world. 

Man  truly  is  a  spirit  and  has  a  body,  not  vice 
versa. 

9 


10  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

I  have  told  you  that  I,  in  common  with  hundreds 
of  other  men  here,  go  down  to  the  battlefields  to 
help  to  bring  away  the  souls  of  those  who  are  pass- 
ing out  of  their  bodies. 

We  are  suited  for  the  work,  having  ourselves  en- 
dured the  horrors  of  war.  Spirits  unused  to  it  can- 
not bear  the  terrible  sights  and  sounds. 

We  bring  them  away  so  that  they  may  return 
to  consciousness  far  from  their  mutilated  physical 
bodies,  and  oh,  Mum,  I  feel  quite  tired  sometimes 
of  explaining  to  men  that  they  are  "  dead !  " 

They  wake  up  feeling  so  much  the  same;  some 
go  about  for  days,  and  even  months,  believing  they 
are  dreaming. 

"  Death  works  no  miracle,"  and  you  wake  up 
here  the  same  personality  exactly  that  left  the  earth- 
plane.  Your  individuality  is  intact,  and  your 
"  spirit-body  "  a  replica  of  the  one  you  have  left, 
down  to  small  details — even  deformities  remain, 
though  I  am  told  they  lessen  and  disappear  in  time.y 

This  is  what  makes  it  so  difficult  to  realize  one 
has  crossed  the  "  great  divide."  If,  when  I  woke 
to  life  here,  I  had  found  myself  floating  about  the 
clouds  clad  in  muslin  and  with  a  pair  of  wings,  I 
should  have  realized  the  fact  sooner.  Incidentally, 
too,  friends  on  earth  would  believe  the  stories  of 


DEATH'S  SURPRISES  ii 

those  who  have  "  passed  on  "  more  readily  in  a 
setting  of  the  kind  I  have  described.  What  they 
find  difficult  to  understand  apparently  is  the  very 
little  change  between  life  in  the  physical  body  and 
in  the  spiritual. 

People  with  narrow,  set,  and  orthodox  beliefs  are 
puzzled  by  the  reality,  the  "  ordinaryliness  "  (if  I 
may  coin  a  word),  of  the  spirit-world.  If  it  were 
described  to  them  as  "  flashes  of  light,"  "  mauve 
and  sapphire  clouds,"  "  golden  rivers,"  etc.,  it  would 
more  readily  approximate  with  their  preconceived 
ideas.  They  require  "  mystery  "  about  this  future 
life. 

I  often  laugh  when  I  hear  them  complain  they 
can't  believe  in  **  solid "  things  like  houses  and 
gardens  in  the  spirit-world. 

These  same  folk  have  always  believed  readily 
enough  in  "  solid  "  thrones,  harps,  crowns,  etc.,  the 
perquisites  of  "the  saved,"  which  things  obviously 
must  be  supported  on  other  equally  substantial  sub- 
stances— the  thrones  and  harps  on  and  in  material 
floors  and  hands,  and  the  crowns  on  very  solid 
heads,  I  imagine! 

V^  The  first  time  I  was  sent  down  to  help  our  enemies 
I  objected,  but  was  told  to  remember  they  were 
fighting  for  what  they  believed  to  be  right  and  in 


12  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

defense  of  their  country  too.  I  saw  rather  an  in- 
teresting meeting  between  an  Englishman  and  a 
German  who  had  killed  each  other.  They  met  face 
to  face  and  looked  at  each  other  steadily.  The 
Englishman  held  out  his  hand.  His  erstwhile  en- 
emy, taking  it,  said,  "  What  d fools  we  have 

been!  "  .  .  .  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  am  not  doing 
so  much  battlefield  work  as  many  of  the  others,  and 
only  go  when  there  has  been  severe  fighting  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  to  do.  Sometimes  we  are  all 
needed;  I  am  being  trained  to  be  a  teacher.  Yes, 
darling,  I  know  you  are  surprised ;  but,  you  remem- 
ber I  used  to  be  good  at  explaining  things ;  besides, 
you  know  too  I  was  always  rather  "  bossy !  "  v 

VThese  are  not  a  bit  like  the  lessons  I  hated  in  the 
old  days.  I  am  studying  science,  which  I  always 
liked, — really  and  actually  the  science  of  life,  the 
cause  of  things, — and  something  of  the  marvellous 
universe  and  of  the  natural  laws  which  govern 
everything.  There  is  nothing  miraculous  about 
them — in  fact,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  "  miracle." 
What  seems  so  is  merely  a  novel  use  of  some  exist- 
ing natural  law.  Nor  can  anything  be  "  super- 
natural ;"  it  may  be  "  super-normal."  Man  can 
create  nothing;  all  new  discoveries  are  merely  fur- 
ther knowledge  of  how  to  use  latent  force  or  power)" 


DEATH'S  SURPRISES  13 

(  For  instance,  the  vibrations  harnessed  by  Marconi's 
ingenuity  in  "  wireless "  telegraphy  have  always 
existed;  he  learned  how  to  utilize  them.  So,  too, 
have  the  properties  of  radium,  though  it  took  years 
of  scientific  research  to  discover  them. 

I  realize  enough,  even  in  this  short  time,  to  know 
that  the  more  one  learns  the  more  truly  humble  one 
becomes,  because  it  is  only  then  possible  to  know  of 
the  vast  untouched  fields  of  knowledge  yet  to  be 
explored,  and  it  is  only  very  ignorant  people  in  these 
days  who  say  anything  is  "  impossible  "  because  it 
happens  to  be  beyond  their  particular  understanding. 

As  to  the  theory  that  spiritual  truths  would  have 
been  "  revealed  "  to  us  if  we  had  been  intended  to 
know  them,  that  is  an  argument  that  might  be 
equally  well  applied  to  material  matters.  Neither 
railways,  telegraphs,  telephones,  microscopes. 
X-rays,  nor  any  other  modern  invention  has  been 
"  revealed  "  to  mankind  without  hard  work;  and  if 
these  "  temporal  things "  have  required  so  much 
effort,  why  should  any  one  imagine  that  the  spiritual 
things,  which,  being  eternal,  are  so  infinitely  more 
valuable,  should  be  given  to  man  without  any  trouble 
on  his  part? 

1^ After  all,  spiritual  things  can  only  be  spiritually 
discerned.    It  is  only  striving  for  truth  that  makes 


H  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

the  spirit  grow;  to  lull  it  into  a  state  of  lethargy 
does  not  help  it  to  develop. 

I  tell  you  what  it  is:  unless  the  Church  wakes 
up  and  moves  with  the  times  it  will  cease  to  exist 
in  the  future.  The  war  has  given  it  a  great  opport- 
unity. 

Men  will  no  longer  be  content  with  platitudes 
and  unreasoning  belief.  You  must  satisfy  their 
minds  as  well  as  their  hearts,  which  is  possible  now 
that  science  and  religion  are  not  antagonistic. 

Men  cannot  now  be  frightened  with  tales  of  hell 
fire.  They  have  learned  that  many  roads  lead  to 
God.  There  is  no  "  right  of  way  "  wWch  is  a  per- 
quisite of  any  particular  form  of  religion.  The 
only  one  that  will  influence  men  at  all  is  one  that 
is  full  of  common  sense,  that  makes  everyday 
life  worth  living,  and  death  no  longer  a  dreaded 
visitor  but  even  a  friend,  for  indeed  it  may  be 
that.  > 
♦This  knowledge  would  not  make  earth  life  of 
less  but  of  greater  value,  for  we  should  then  realize 
and  appreciate  the  fact  that  we  are  in  the  world  to 
be  trained,  to  develop  character,  and  learn  self- 
discipline.  It  would  teach  us  to  bear  trials  bravely 
and  with  understanding,  that  now  seem  uncalled  for 
and  senseless.    We  should  know  that  this  earth  life 


DEATH'S  SURPRISES  15 

is  only  the  "  school-time  "  and  preparation  of  the 
fuller  life  that  follows. 

My  duty  and  my  business  in  future  is  to  teach 
as  I  am  being  taught,  for  every  one  works  here  as 
he  is  best  fitted.  In  helping  others  in  some  way  or 
other,  many  help  those  they  love  and  have  left  on 
earth,  if  they  can  get  through  to  people  there  as 
I  can  to  you;  but  for  those  whose  relatives,  either 
through  ignorance,  fear,  disbelief,  or  religious  big- 
otry, do  not  desire  to  get  into  touch  with  them, 
there  is  work  to  be  done  by  helping  less  developed 
spirits  on  the  lower  spheres. 

I^Do  you  know,  I  often  bring  men  home  to  see 
you  who  are  not  in  touch  with  their  own  people,  to 
prove  to  them  that  some  at  least  on  earth  realize 
we  are  still  "  living." 

I  can't  understand  the  people  who  say  that  "  spirit 
return  is  possible,  but  wrong,"  because  only 
"  devils "  or  "  evil  spirits "  can  communicate. 
Surely  God  would  not  reserve  this  His  great  com- 
fort and  gift,  the  assurance  of  continued  conscious 
existence,  solely  for  the  wicked?  p^ 


CERTAIN  "MUNDANE"  MATTERS 

vl  AM  living  on  the  third  Sphere  or  Plane;  we  call 
it  "  Summerland,"  and  some  people  "  Paradise." 

To  turn  to  more  mundane  matters,  darling,  you 
want  to  know  how  I  eat?  Well,  my  body  absorbs 
all  the  nourishment  it  requires  from  the  atmosphere, 
like  the  leaves  of  trees  do.  K 

Even  the  air  round  the  earth  contains  in  different 
degrees  and  solutions  most  of  the  elements  that 
form  our  physical  bodies  there. 

I  don't  actually  sleep  but  I  do  sometimes  feel 
tired,  and  then  I  lie  down  and  rest,  and  refresh 
myself  by  bathing  in  the  lake. 

Nothing  can  kill  the  soul,  not  even  man  himself ; 
though  sometimes,  if  before  the  final  separation  of 
body  and  soul  the  illness  has  been  very  severe,  there 
has  been  brain  disease,  or  the  end  has  been  violent 
and  sudden,  the  shock  to  the  soul  is  very  great,  and 
it  may  remain  in  a  state  of  unconsciousness  for 
many  days  or  weeks,  till  it  is  recovered  sufficiently 
to  awake  in  its  new  conditions.  You  see,  therefore, 
a  suicide,  far  from  escaping  trouble,  only  goes  from 

i6 


CERTAIN  "MUNDANE"  MATTERS         17 

one  form  of  misery  to  another;  he  cannot  annihilate 
himself  and  pass  to  nothingness. 

How  do  I  get  about  ?  I  walk  very  often,  at  other 
times  if  necessary  I  generate  sufficient  power,  which 
I  concentrate  by  effort  of  will  within  my  body,  to 
take  me  anywhere  with  the  speed  of  thought.  Our 
bodies  are  so  light  and  so  strong,  it  is  easy  to  jump 
the  highest  wall  with  the  slightest  effort;  the  at- 
mosphere has  not  the  same  resisting  power  to  our 
bodies  as  it  has  to  yours. 

How  I  shall  laugh,  Mum,  when  you  come  here 
and  I  see  you  jumping  ten- foot  walls ! 

Not  that  we  do  jump  them,  as  it  is  not  necessary, 
and  we  are  particularly  taught  never  to  waste  force 
or  energy^ 

''^hen  I  first  came  over,  I  longed  for  you  to  be 
here,  but  I  was  told  that  your  earth  work  was  not 
accomplished,  and  I  must  be  patient — there  are  so 
many  wonderful  things  I  want  to  show  you  and  to 
tell  you  about. 

One  reason  why  we  have  found  it  so  easy  to  get 
into  touch  with  each  other  is  because  we  are  both 
psychic.  Of  course  we  neither  of  us  realized  it 
before,  but  I  can  quite  clearly  understand  and  see  it 
now,  and  I  see  other  things  so  differently  too  in  the 
light  of  all  the  knowledge  I  have  gained.  ^' 


i8  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

-Music,  and  flowers,  and  things  I  should  have 
thought  it  rather  "  sentimental "  to  admire  before, 
I  thoroughly  appreciate  now. 

In  the  spirit-world  there  is  a  stronger  affinity 
between  the  spirit  and  beautiful  things  than  be- 
tween any  physical  connection  on  the  earth-plane, 
perhaps  because  it  is  a  more  perfect  expression  of 
God. 

There  are  beautiful  birds  and  exquisite  flowers, 
and  many  pleasures.  I  go  boating  and  golfing,  but 
one  must  not  take  life  in  any  form,  so  I  no  longer 
fish. 

You  want  to  know  about  our  houses  ?  Well,  they 
are  built  by  bricklayers  and  designed  by  architects 
as  they  would  be  on  earth.  // 

(in  the  spirit-world  all  work  is  equally  honor- 
able, and  each  man  does  that  for  which  he  is  most 
fitted;  if  he  is  best  at  manual  employment,  he  real- 
izes his  limitations  and  has  no  foolish  desire  to  ap- 
pear other  than  he  is,  as  all  work  is  done  under 
beautiful  conditions.    All  are  happy  and  free. 

On  earth  certain  forms  of  labor  are  looked  down 

upon,  because  those  who  perform  them  are  ill  paid 

and  live  under  distressful  conditions;  here  all  good 

work  is  recognized  as  valuable. 

V  It  is  curious  on  looking  at  the  world  to  see  how 


CERTAIN  "  MUNDANE  "  MATTERS  19 

many  people  there  have  chosen  the  wrong  voca- 
tion. 

In  the  spiritual  socialism  that  will  be  law  in  my 
Arcadia  on  earth  some  day,  both  the  theoretical 
and  practical  men  will  realize  their  responsibilities 
to  each  other  and  will  live  to  right  wrong. 

The  master  will  not  say,  "  How  little  ? "  but 
"  How  much  can  I  afford  to  pay  this  man,  to  make 
his  life  agreeable,  and  not  merely  bearable?  "  And 
the  man  will  do  his  best  honorably  to  give  honest 
and  interested  service  in  return  as  his  right  and 
share  in  the  bargain.  V 
\\  have  told  you  before  how  certain  things  are 
made  here,  just  as  they  are  on  earth,  largely  of 
"  gases."  You  see,  vapors  and  "  gases  "  from  life- 
less matter  are  always  rising  from  the  earth.  You 
can  smell  it  in  decaying  things,  such  as  flowers, 
wood,  leaves,  etc.  These  in  disintegrating  disperse 
quite  a  lot  of  matter  into  the  air,  which  is  deposited 
in  the  different  spheres  round  the  earth. 

The  coarser  on  the  lowest  sphere,  the  finer  rising 
to  the  higher,  a  sort  of  chemical  action,  or  a  kind 
of  gravitation  (acting  in  a  different  way  to  that  on 
earth)  attracts  each  density  of  gas  to  its  suitable  en- 
vironment— another  example  of  the  great  law  of 
the  universe  which  we  do  not  yet  understand. 


20  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Out  of  this  deposit,  concentrated  into  solids  by 
chemical  action,  all  substances  here  are  made,  such 
as  bricks  for  the  houses,  material  for  clothes,  etc. 

You  want  to  know  about  clothes?  Well,  you 
can  wear  just  what  you  like  here ;  there  are  no  fash- 
ions to  follow  or  appearances  to  keep  up.  Though 
a  very  mixed  array  is  the  consequence  it  does  not 
seem  incongruous,  for  here  you  dress  to  express 
yourself  and  not  to  impress  your  neighbors. 

I  dress  as  I  did  with  you,  but  some  people  wear 
white  robes  because  they  think  when  out  of  the 
mortal  body  it  is  the  correct  thing  to  do.  If  I  chose 
to  wear  a  tunic  and  sandals,  or  a  "  Beefeater's  " 
get-up,  no  one  would  laugh  and  jeer;  they  would 
realize  it  made  me  happy,  and  that  is  reason 
enough. 

Mummy,  dear,  I  quite  understand  how  difficult 
all  I  tell  you  about  my  life  here  is  for  you  to  realize. 
I  am  quite  sure  in  your  place  I  should  never  believe 
it,  but  it's  true  all  the  same ! 

The  more  one  studies  science  the  more  possible 
it  seems  to  become.  After  all,  the  difficulty  is  in 
believing  in  things  so  real,  so  strong,  so  substantial, 
and  yet  to  most  people  invisible.  Yet,  when  you 
come  to  think  of  it,  on  earth  there  are  many  of  the 
most  "  solid  "  things  made  of  gases  and  elements. 


CERTAIN  "  MUNDANE  "  MATTERS         21 

which  in  their  pure  state  are  invisible.  A  large 
proportion  oi  our  physical  bodies,  rocks  (and 
some  of  the  earth  itself),  for  instance,  are  made 
of  oxygen,  which  is  impalpable  as  well  as  in- 
visible. 

Undeveloped  people  are  those  who  live  only 
through  the  senses  and  have  not  cultivated  the  in- 
tellect nor  the  spirit.  To  them  what  is  impalpable 
seems  "  impossible." 

Some  day  we'll  write  some  fairy  tales  of  science 
together  about  the  wonderful  further  knowledge  to 
be  gained  here — it's  all  so  extraordinarily  interest- 
ing. 

We  might  write  a  novel  together  too,  and  call  it 
"  The  Growth  of  a  Soul,"  and  trace  its  evolution 
through  various  incarnations.  You  and  I  have 
been  through  many  together  (in  different  con- 
nections, relationships,  and  sexes) ;  that's  why 
we  are  so  particularly  in  affinity  with  one 
another. 

I'm  not  going  to  tell  you  you  were  "  Boadicea," 
"  Cleopatra,"  "  Helen  of  Troy,"  or  any  other  fa- 
mous or  infamous  female  of  past  history,  as  I  some- 
times hear  spirit-wags  telling  other  women,  for 
they  make  fun  sometimes  at  the  expense  of  those 
on  earth  if  they  are  vain  or  gullible. 


22  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Will  you  be  shocked,  Mum,  if  I  tell  you  what  I 
have  recently  done?  (It  sounds  rather  like  the 
**  Chamber  of  Horrors  "  at  Madame  Tussaud's. ) 
I  went  down  to  the  Astral  plane,  searched  for  and 
made  friends  with  a  murderer!  He  was  a  man 
who  some  years  ago  paid  the  extreme  penalty  for 
killing  his  wife. 

I  did  not  seek  him  for  curiosity, — that  would 
have  been  unjustifiable, — but  because  I  was  trying 
to  trace  the  cause  which  led  to  such  a  tragedy,  and 
to  find  the  "  kink  "  in  the  man's  character  which 
made  the  deed  to  him  seem  excusable.  I  found  X. 
a  very  decent  chap,  fond  of  animals  and  children, 
a  quiet,  inoffensive  little  fellow.  He  tells  me  he 
was  driven  positively  mad  by  his  wife;  contempt 
and  loathing  ended  in  hate  of  her. 

She  seems  to  have  been  an  odious  woman;  he 
said  she  was  coarse,  unfaithful,  drank  to  excess,  and 
"  nagged  "  without  ceasing,  till  he  absolutely  became 
desperate.  For  about  a  year  after  he  came  over 
here  he  had  a  terrible  time,  because  he  was  sullen 
and  full  of  hate  and  rage;  then  he  began  to  calm 
down  and  to  see,  however  evil  his  plight  had  been, 
he  had  no  right  to  take  her  life.  As  soon  as  the 
desire  for  improvement  came,  friends  were  ready  to 
help  him,  and  he  is  already  much  happier,  and 


CERTAIN  "  MUNDANE  "  MATTERS         23 

working  among  those  who  come  over  full  of  misery 
and  bitterness  as  he  himself  did. 

He  never  mentioned  these  unpleasant  things 
about  his  wife  at  the  trial,  as  he  might  have  done 
in  order  to  try  and  extenuate  matters  against  him- 
self. Poor  devil,  he  was  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning,  I  think! 

.  . ,' .  You  do  not  delay  my  progress,  as  was 
suggested  to  you,  by  keeping  in  touch  with  me. 
People  on  earth  will  not  realize  that  you  cannot 
"  summon  "  spirits  any  more  than  you  can  compel 
men  on  earth  to  come  and  see  you  if  they  do  not 
wish  to  do  so. 

In  the  spirit-world  people  choose  what  is  best 
for  their  own  evolution. 

^f  mortals  desire  the  companionship  of  spirit- 
friends  merely  for  purposes  of  material  gain,  it  does 
not  of  course  do  either  of  them  much  good;  but 
when  love  is  the  motive  and  mutual  help  the  desire, 
it  is  good  for  both,  for  helping  others  is  the  way 
of  progress. 

There  is  a  wedge  now  being  driven  in  to  open 
the  door  between  the  two  worlds  of  matter  and 
spirit,  and  I  love  to  feel  that  I  may  be  a  tiny  splinter 
of  that  wedge. 

This  is  an  excellent  opportunity  of  letting  a  little 


24  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

light  and  hope  through  which  will  help  mankind,  for 
I  have  explained  to  you  the  creative  power  of 
thought.  At  present  the  earth  is  enveloped  in  what 
looks  like  a  thick  grey  mist  caused  by  the  thoughts 
of  cruelty,  rage,  grief,  and  pain  that  are  continually 
outpouring. 


THE  CHRIST 

1  KNOW  why  you  are  all  thinking  especially  of  me 
to-day,  darling.  It's  an  anniversary,  my  birthday — 
into  the  spirit-world,  I  mean.  I  am  not  going  to 
call  it  the  day  I  was  "  killed." 

I  do  truly  feel  hundreds  of  years  older  some- 
times. I  seem  to  have  learnt  so  much  since  I  came 
over,  and  yet  at  other  times  I  sit  at  your  feet  and 
rest  my  head  against  your  knee,  and  it  seems  as  if 
I  were  a  little  boy  again,  and  all  these  things  had 
never  happened ! 

Yes,  I  have  seen  Christ  once.  Mummy,  and,  re- 
membering how  awe-inspiring  the  occasion  was, 
cannot  help  wondering  how  any  one  could  imagine 
at  death  they  would  go  straight  to  His  kingdom, 
when  most  of  us  have  done  so  little  to  earn  that 
beatitude!  »- 

I  was  told  I  should  be  allowed  to  see  Him,  but 
honestly  at  the  time  I  did  not  realize  or  appreciate 
the  fact.  I  thought  it  would  probably  mean  going 
to  a  very  high  church  with  an  elaborate  ritual  of 
pomp  and  ceremony.  When  the  appointed  time 
came,  my  guides  provided  me  with  a  plain  white 

25 


26  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

robe  to  wear  (you  cannot  attend  the  court  of  an 
earthly  king  without  suitable  garments),  and  we 
passed  through  connecting  shafts  to  the  Christ- 
sphere. 

My  general  impression  was  that  of  brightness, 
almost  dazzling;  the  air  scintillated  like  diamonds 
— it  almost  crackled,  it  was  so  full  of  electricity; 
my  feet  had  not  a  very  firm  grip  of  the  ground. 

There  were  bands  and  processions  of  people, 
white-robed,  all  going  in  one  direction.  They 
moved  with  uplifted  faces,  singing  beautiful  music. 

We  joined  the  rear  of  one  group,  and  were  al- 
most swept  along  on  a  tide  of  intense  feeling. 

We  came  to  a  building  without  any  walls.  It 
consisted  of  a  roof,  which  seemed  to  be  composed 
of  interwoven  rays  of  light  of  different  colors,  sup- 
ported by  pillars  which  looked  as  if  they  were  made 
of  mother-of-pearl. 

There  were  crowds  of  people  all  round,  and  raised 
above  all  others  stood  one  glowing,  radiant  figure. 
I  knew  at  once  it  was  Christ,  and  instinctively  fell 
on  my  knees  (though  He  is  not  like  any  picture  I 
have  ever  seen).  I  was  so  conscious  of  Him  that 
I  felt  as  if  He  was  bending  over  me.  His  eyes 
seemed  to  penetrate  me,  and  produce  a  wonderful 
glow.     I   felt  uplifted  in  a  culminating  thrill  of 


THE  CHRIST  a; 

ecstasy.    He  was  speaking,  but  I  could  not  hear  the 
words. 

As  I  knelt  there,  many  events  of  my  life  passed  in 
review  through  my  mind.  I  could  visualize  them 
as  pictures.  My  memory  seemed  stored  with  rec- 
ords, not  alone  of  the  life  I  had  just  left,  but  of 
others  in  the  far-away  past;  and  as  the  various 
scenes  presented  themselves  I  seemed  to  realize  the 
different  lessons  I  had  learned  through  these  expe- 
riences, and  to  know  that  all  the  events  of  my  life 
had  been  leading  up  to  this.  ) 


OF  REINCARNATION 

'/You  want  to  know  how  it  is  I  now  believe  in  rein- 
carnation, and  say  that  other  spirits  you  find  do 
not?  Well,  darling,  we  are  still  very  far  from 
ultimate  truth,  and  people  here  vary  in  their  opin- 
ions and  ideas  just  as  they  did  on  earth.  We  are 
still  learning,  Mum;  we  have  only  gone  a  little 
farther  along  the  road  of  experience,  and  have  by 
no  means  reached  the  end  of  the  journey.  Yes, 
there  is  a  Heaven,  but  it  is  a  long  way  off  and  has 
yet  to  be  earned;  even  our  very  bodies,  which  are 
still  fairly  material,  will  have  to  become  more  re- 
fined before  we  are  fitted  for  that. 

I  am  told  by  friends  here,  that  souls  are  some- 
times reborn,  reincarnated,  in  order  to  gain  further 
experience,  learn  more  life-lessons,  or  work  out  past 
sins  and  failings.  Each  earth  life  leaves  its  mark 
on  character,  and  its  lessons  are  for  ever  imprinted 
on  the  subconscious  mind,  which  registers  every- 
thing that  has  ever  happened  to  the  soul  from  the 
beginning.,  This,  they  say,  explains  much  of  the 
pain  and  trouble  you  see  on  earth.  The  sufferers 
are  learning  lessons  ^vhich  are  necessary  for  their 

as 


OF  REINCARNATION  29 

souls'  growth,  for  man  was  put  into  the  world  to 
develop  the  spiritual.  They  may  have  lived  before, 
and  neglected  to  learn  them,  or  they  may  be  new 
souls  going  through  these  experiences  in  one  or 
other  of  the  stages  of  their  existence;  it  is  all  on 
the  road  of  their  evolution. 

Families,  friends,  sections  of  nations  in  the  re- 
volving cycle  of  time  reincarnate  together  very 
often,  as  they  require  the  same  experiences. 

When  you  begin  to  think  seriously  about  the  sub- 
ject and  look  and  study  the  people  about  you,  you 
will  be  able  to  recognize  that  some  people  are  old 
souls  and  others  new. 

Past  experiences,  though  not  consciously  remem- 
bered, tone  down  crudities  of  character.  Old  souls 
have  a  sympathy,  a  strength,  taught  of  pain  and 
discipline,  and  are  therefore  considerate  for  others. 
When  one  knows  many  of  the  exceptionally  gifted 
young  men  who  have  passed  over  in  this  war,  one 
realizes  they  may  have  been  old  souls  who  gained 
their  experience  in  the  past  and  returned  to  earth 
for  a  glorious  culmination  in  this  supreme  sacrifice. 

I  have  often  heard  people  ask  why  God  permits 
wickedness.  If  it  were  impossible  for  man  to  sin, 
he  would  no  longer  be  a  free  agent  but  an  autom- 
aton.   As  man  is  on  earth  to  learn  his  lesson  and 


30  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

develop  his  soul,  he  must  have  his  mettle  proved. 
There  would  be  no  good  without  evil.  Contrasts 
exist  and  are  necessary ;  just  as  day  and  night,  wet 
and  fine,  heat  and  cold,  pleasure  and  pain,  are  only 
realized  and  appreciated  through  their  opposites. 

Old  souls  have  learnt  also  to  keep  in  touch  with 
and  draw  from  the  "  God-force  "  the  actual  Source 
of  Life.  Psychically  developed  people  are  especially 
in  contact  with  it. 

The  soul  has  a  separate  consciousness.  Many 
people's  souls  leave  their  bodies  in  sleep  habitually, 
or  under  anaesthetics,  and  travel  to  various  places; 
some,  on  awaking,  are  able  to  remember  the  scenes 
they  have  visited — and  this  memory  can  be  culti- 
vated. So  you  see  the  diiference  between  sleep  and 
death  for  some  people  is  not  very  great  after  all, 
nor  the  passing  painful  nor  difficult.  It  only  means 
on  one  occasion  they  leave  their  bodies  to  return  no 
more. 

V  With  reference  to  the  discussion  in  the  paper  on 
"  reincarnation,"  you  say  some  women  think  it  al- 
most a  desecration  to  believe  their  babies  have  lived 
before  and  been  perhaps  even  "  harlots,"  "  thieves," 
or  other  undesirable  persons^.  This  sounds  as  if  they 
presupposed  themselves  to  be  new  souls. 

I  am  told,  whatever  those  babies  may  have  been 


OF  REINCARNATION  31 

in  previous  lives  {if  they  have  lived  on  earth  be- 
fore), their  mothers  have  earned  those  particular 
babies. 

I  mean,  souls  don't  return  promiscuously  to  any 
body,  in  any  family.  There  is  a  sequence  in  their 
lives  that  necessitates  their  coming  to  one  particular 
environment.  It  is  part  of  the  natural  law,  and 
works  automatically. 

(Their  mothers  may  have  owed  them  something 
— a  debt  of  love  they  failed  to  pay  in  a  previous 
existence,  or  a  trust  they  betrayed. 

If  the  baby  had  been  a  "  harlot "  in  the  past, 
perhaps  the  mother  in  those  days  was  the  lover  who 
first  betrayed  her,  or  even  a  vain,  cruel,  careless, 
or  neglectful  mother  before,  who  failed  in  her  duty 
to  her  child,  and  was  the  cause  of  her  downfall. 

Perhaps  that  child  or  another  is  sent  to  her  that 
she  may  "make  good;"  it  may  be  her  opportunity. 
People  should  always  do  a  kindness  when  they  can, 
even  if  it  is  not  appreciated  or  acknowledged,  for 
it  may  be  a  chance  of  repaying  a  debt. 

Souls  do  not  come  in  the  same  relationship  to 
each  other  every  time,  and  not  even  as  the  same 
sex  sometimes.  A  well-developed  soul  is  one  that 
has  functioned  in  both  sexes,  and  so  has  gained  ex- 
perience. 


32  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

To  look  at  it  another  way,  it  is  also  equally  open 
to  every  woman  to  believe  (or  hope)  if  she  likes 
that  she  and  her  baby  did  such  good  work  when 
they  were  in  the  world  before,  that  they  have  come 
back  to  continue  it,  for  this  happens  too  sometimes. 

Here  we  are  continually  taught  that  the  highest 
service  is  to  help  one  another,  and  this  is  the  best 
way  for  some  people  to  do  it. 
fl  promised  I  would  tell  you  all  I  had  learnt  of 
our  previous  lives  together,  yours  and  mine.  It  is 
not  very  much. 

My  guides  showed  me  a  number  of  pictures  in  a 
series  of  visions  illustrating  these  lives.  '. 

There  must  have  been  many  more  than  I  know 
an)rthing  of,  for  in  the  first  we  were  versed  in  many 
of  the  occult  mysteries  and  rites  of  ancient  Egypt. 
I  saw  that  country  thousands  of  years  ago.  There 
were  wonderful  buildings  with  huge  pillars,  and  the 
dazzling  sunshine  and  heat  of  the  East. 

We  were  brother  and  sister,  I  was  told,  and  were 
attached  to  the  court  of  the  Pharaoh,  a  sort  of 
"  lady  and  gentleman  in  waiting."  We  also  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  temple,  and  the  priests,  and 
religious  services.  It  was  probably  in  this  connec- 
tion we  were  at  the  court. 

I  know  we  spent  much  time  walking  in  the  temple 


OF  REINCARNATION  33 

processions,  and  I  saw  you  a  tall  woman,  with  a 
good  figure  and  an  upright  carriage,  in  a  purple 
robe  and  overdress  trimmed  with  gold,  and  a  sort 
of  cloak  of  some  skin  falling  at  your  back,  your 
forehead  bound  low  down  with  a  broad  fillet  of  gold 
with  hieroglyphics  on  it.  You  wore  bracelets  of 
gold  and  other  ornaments  in  the  way  of  earrings 
and  necklaces.     (You  looked  jolly  fine,  Mum!) 

Q.  used  to  wear  on  these  occasions  a  sort  of  tunic 
trimmed  with  gold,  and  sandals  laced  up  to  the  knee 
with  the  same  precious  metal.  I  was  quite  pleased 
with  my  appearance,  till  I  discovered  that  I  also 
wore  an  enormous  wig  that  stuck  out  a  foot  round 
my  head  in  every  direction.  It  amused  me  very 
much.  I  must  have  looked  a  perfect  sight!  But 
if  that  was  the  fashion  at  the  time,  I  have  no  doubt 
I  was  very  pleased  with  the  effect  then.  I  don't 
know  what  happened,  or  our  subsequent  history,  on 
that  occasion. 

In  the  next  scene  we  were  walking  along  a  dusty 
Eastern  road  in  Palestine.  The  country  on  either 
side  looked  sun-baked,  and  rough,  and  bare,  with 
a  few  thorny  bushes  growing  here  and  there.  This 
time  you  were  a  young  matron  about  twenty-two, 
and  were  carrying  your  baby.  You  were  wearing 
a  blue  robe  embroidered  round  the  edge,  and  a 


34  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

kind  of  veil  over  your  head.  (You  had  the  face 
of  a  Madonna.)  You  were  the  wife  of  a  notary,  a 
man  known  for  his  goodness  and  benevolence. 

I  was  about  nineteen,  a  girl  too,  your  bosom 
friend,  and  in  the  scene  I  describe  was  walking  be- 
side you  with  my  arm  round  your  waist.  We  were 
Christians,  and  it  was  in  the  early  days  of  Christ- 
ianity. 

That  time  I  was  shown  the  end  of  the  life  story. 
Some  terrible  plague,  or  epidemic,  broke  out  in 
Jerusalem,  and  you  and  I  used  to  go  among  the  sick 
poor  carrying  food  and  medicine.  Later,  I  saw  you 
in  a  comatose  condition  at  the  point  of  dissolution, 
while  I  knelt  beside  you,  stricken  too,  and  praying 
that  death  should  not  divide  us.  What  happened  to 
your  husband  and  the  baby  I  don't  know. 

The  next  scene  was,  I  should  imagine,  somewhere 
in  the  Near  East  (possibly  in  the  Balkans).  This 
time  we  were  both  young  men,  brothers.  We  wore 
picturesque  garments  (rather  like  a  musical 
comedy),  and  seemed  to  be  leaders  of  a  band  of 
fighters,  and  we  appeared  to  enjoy  our  rough,  wild 
life  thoroughly.  What  happened  to  us  later  I  don't 
know.  Yes!  it  does  seem  as  if  we  had  not  "ad- 
vanced "  much  that  time.  Perhaps  we  required  to 
be  more  strenuous,  and  so  were  given  the  opport- 


OF  REINCARNATION  35 

unity  of  cultivating  what  is  commonly  called  "  grit !" 

There  are  new  souls,  too,  always  coming  into  the 
world,  and  I  am  told  much  of  the  sin  in  it  is  due  to 
ignorance  and  inexperience;  so,  too,  is  the  narrow- 
mindedness. 

When  anyone  is  sure  they  know  everything,  or 
think  they  understand  the  limitations  of  nature,  or 
are  bigoted  in  religious  matters,  you  can  believe  it 
is  that  they  have  very  little  soul-experience,  for  old 
souls  learn  the  tremendous  power  of  God,  and 
realize  how  infinitesimal  is  man. 

I  have  never  seen  a  spirit  yet  who  has  seen  God, 
and  yet  here  you  know  you  live  because  you  are  just 
a  particle  from  the  Divine.  .  .  . 

You  say  it  hurt  you  to  hear  that  poor  woman 
who  spoke  through  the  other  medium  the  other 
day;  she  seemed  so  terribly  unhappy  and  uncom- 
fortable. Well,  poor  woman,  she  was  so  unready  to 
pass  out  of  the  world.  She  was  killed  suddenly 
through  an  accident  while  in  perfect  health. 

She  was  a  very  worldly  woman,  and  could  not 
believe  it  when  she  came  to  herself  and  found  she 
had  left  her  mortal  body.  She  had  no  real  belief 
in  "  life  after  death,"  and  felt  she  was  in  a  dream 
and  a  very  unhappy  one,  for,  alas  for  herself,  she 
had  in  her  life  on  earth  laughed  her  husband  out 


36  CLAUDE'S  BOOK     . 

of  all  belief  in  it  too !  And  she  realized  the  difficulty 
she  would  have  in  undoing  this  mistake. 

As  you  make  the  conditions  of  your  own  life  after 
death  by  your  state  of  spiritual  development,  you 
can  imagine  some  people,  whose  spiritual  faculties 
have  dwindled  till  they  have  become  atrophied, — 
almost  a  negligible  quantity,  in  fact, — can  see  no 
beauty  here;  in  fact,  they  live  under  unpleasant 
conditions. 

Some  people  are  earth-bound.  All  their  interests 
are  there,  and  they  return  for  that  contact  with  men 
and  the  old  conditions  they  crave. 

I  know  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  discarnate 
souls  should  still  hanker  after  material  and  some- 
times gross  pleasures.  It  is  because  while  on  earth 
their  senses  ruled  them,  and  stamped  and  coarsened 
the  soul,  instead  of  the  spirit  refining  and  purifying 
the  body. 

As  I  have  already  told  you,  for  some  time  after 
people  come  here  they  continue  to  feel  as  if  they 
were  still  in  a  mortal  body.  You  can  realize  this  in 
a  small  way  from  what  is,  alas,  a  common  occurrence 
nowadays.  Any  soldier  who  has  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  a  limb  will  tell  you  he  can  feel  pain,  discom- 
fort, or  irritation  in  it  for  days  after  it  has  been 
amputated. 


OF  REINCARNATION  37 

In  this  way  spirits  continue  for  some  time  after 
they  have  left  them  to  "  feel "  their  bodies  after 
death,  and  you  know  from  experience  now  that  the 
first  time  a  spirit  returns  through  a  medium,  the 
death  condition  is  generally  reproduced  or  indicated. 


GUIDES,  INSPIRATION,  AND  GOD 

y  You  say  you  have  heard  so  much  of  "  Spirit- 
guides  "  to  people  on  earth,  and  want  to  know  who 
appoints  these,  and  why?  "Guardian  Angels"  I 
suppose  they  used  to  be  called.  Well,  no  one  ap- 
points them;  they  are  spirit-friends  attracted  by 
something  in  the  individual  which  appeals  to  them, 
and  they  try  to  influence  and  help  those  in  whom 
they  take  an  interest.  ^ 

They  may  be  earth- friends  or  relatives  who  hav- 
ing passed  on  still  keep  the  bond  of  affection  that 
held  them  while  here,  though  they  are  often  strang- 
ers attracted  by  mutual  interests,  who  try  literally 
to  inspire  those  on  earth.  This  does  not  mean  in 
religious  matters  only;  it  applies  to  art,  science, 
engineering,  medicine,  or  any  other  subject.  Can't 
you  imagine  a  musician  here,  revelling  in  beautiful 
harmonies,  trying  to  instil  into  the  mind  of  an 
earthly  musician  some  of  the  glorious  sound  which 
gives  him  such  joy,  and  which  he  knows  will  benefit 
and  uplift  those  still  in  the  "  bonds  of  the  flesh  "  ? 
or  an  artist  surrounded  by  this  exquisite  beauty  try- 
ing to  inspire  the  mind  of  a  friend,  so  that  he  may 

38 


GUIDES,  INSPIRATION,  AND  GOD  39 

see  with  truer,  clearer  vision  the  hidden  wonders 
that  surround  him?  or  a  man  of  science  or  an 
engineer  trying  to  impress  the  mind  of  a  friend  on 
earth  with  a  new  discovery  or  invention  ? 

/These  things  are  being  done  every  day,  and  the 
"  flashes  of  genius  "  which  illumine  the  world  occa- 
sionally are  the  result  of  the  influence  of  spirit- 
minds  on  the  minds  of  those  still  in  the  world. 
When  men  realize  it  is  possible  to  get  help  from  these 
sources  they  will  do  great  things,  for  to  those  who 
have  passed  on,  the  sources  of  information,  though 
not  limitless,  are  vast  in  comparison  with  those 
on  earthy  The  secrets  of  Atlantis  and  ancient  Egypt 
are  obtainable  if  they  care  to  work  to  learn  them. 

I  have  told  you  here,  too,  "  like  attracts  like." 
If  a  human  being  is  spiritually  and  intellectually 
undeveloped,  and  lives  only  in  the  senses,  the  spirit- 
friends  he  attracts  are  of  a  very  undesirable  order. 
They  are  the  souls  of  those  who  had  no  wish  to  live 
anything  but  a  life  of  animal  gratification,  and  still 
hang  about  the  world  and  their  old  haunts  contin- 
ually, trying  to  get  a  kind  of  second-hand  indirect 
pleasure  from  the  doings  of  the  people  who  now 
follow  in  their  footsteps. 

.  Having  told  you  something  of  "  Guides,"  I  will 
tell  you  now  of  some  charming  Elementals,  an<J 


40  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

I'll  give  you  an  epigram,  Mum.  "Everything  in 
animal  life  and  the  flower  and  vegetable  kingdom  in 
its  highest  development  takes  a  certain  resemblance 
to  humanity,  because  the  human  entity  is  the  highest 
expression  of  life  demonstrating  in  a  physical  way 
on  the  earth-plane./  \^l'or  instance,  you  know  when 
a  dog  or  horse  is  loved  and  cared  for  by  anyone  it 
is  said  the  animal  becomes  "  almost  human  "  in  its 
intelligence^  *T'here  are  nature  thought- forms,  some 
of  which  are  made  by  the  emanations,  the  "  excess 
life,"  as  it  were,  from  the  flowers.  These  are  the 
so-called  "  Fairies,"  which  are  not,  as  we  supposed 
when  we  outgrew  childhood,  merely  a  charming 
figment  of  imagination,  but  actually  exist  and  were 
seen  in  the  beginning  by  those  who  lived  in  touch 
with  nature  and  had  unspoiled  eyes  to  see  the  won- 
ders and  beauties  of  God's  world.  These  creatures 
have  intelligence  without  being  intellectual,  and  are 
almost  human  in  form.  You  want  to  know  why 
they  take  this  form?  Well,  all  life  must  take  some 
form  when  it  emanates,  and  why  not  this?''  After 
all,  there  is  no  resemblance  between  the  tiny  seed 
you  sow  in  the  ground  and  *hc  beautiful  flower  that 
springs  from  it  eventuall)  The  thought-forms  of 
flowers  are  the  spirit  side  of  their  life  on  the  physical 
plane,  and  they  are  stronger  than  human  thought- 


GUIDES,  INSPIRATION,  AND  GOD  41 

forms,  for  the  life  that  goes  to  them  is  a  steady  con- 
tinuous stream,  while  that  supplied  by  human 
thought  varies  and  fluctuates. 

The  flowers  here  have  no  spirit-forms,  for  they 
are  themselves  spirits.) 

/I  know  you  sometimes  find  it  very  difficult  to 
follow  my  explanations,  and  I  find  it  difficult  to 
explain,  for  our  experiences  are  limited,  and  lan- 
guage is  limited  and  is  inadequate  to  express  spirit- 
ual things.  It  is  like  trying  to  explain  the  glories 
of  a  splendid  sunset  to  a  man  who  was  bom  blind. 
kAfter  all,  we  can  only  judge  things  by  past  im- 
pressions, and  when  these  are  lacking  we  can  only 
believe,  if  we  are  willing  to  accept  them,  through 
"  faith  the  evidence  of  things  unseen.'*  .  .  . 

You  want  to  know  what  I  feel  about  Religion 
now,  and  if  my  ideas  on  reincarnation  have  changed 
my  ideas  of  Christ?  Well,  darling,  I  will  answer 
the  last  question  first. 

I  believe  that  Christ  is  a  great  and  wonderful 
personality,  a  great  Spirit  in  the  form  of  a  man,  as 
near  as  possible  to  God,  because  the  God- force 
plays  so  strongly  in  and  through  Him,  a  fit  instru- 
ment and  receiver  of  that  power. 

There  was  a  specific  reason  why  Christ  was  sent. 
God  specially  directed  Him;  the  consciousness  of 


42  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

God  within  Him  was  very  acute.    He  knew  He  was 
the  instrument  and  child  of  God./ 

(He  was  sent  to  be  man's  example  for  all  time,  to 
teach  how  pure,  and  holy,  and  simple,  and  dignified, 
and  useful,  and  beautiful  life  could  be  without  any 
of  the  material  aids  of  money  or  social  position, 
and  to  prove  the  individual  continuity  of  life  after 
death.  But  He  did  not  come  to  save  men  from  the 
results  of  their  sins.  It  is  a  comfortable  theory, 
but  not  true. 

Here  we  learn  that  every  man  has  to  earn  his 
own  salvation.  Sin  is  a  breaking  of  God's  laws,  and 
carries  its  own  inviolable  consequences,  which  must 
be  worked  out  by  each  individual  personally.  You 
might  as  well  set  the  law  of  gravity  in  motion  and 
expect  it  not  to  act. 

Christ's  followers  claimed  His  death  as  a  sacri- 
fice for  sin,  for  they  naturally  looked  upon  God 
only  as  the  people  of  their  day  knew  Him — that  is, 
as  a  tyrannical  Jehovah  whose  altars  ran  with  the 
blood  of  sacrificed  animals. 

As  man  evolves  he  gets  nearer  spiritual  truth, 
and  we  know  here  that  this  is  infinitely  greater  and 
more  wonderful  than  anything  ever  yet  told.  One 
realizes  the  presentation  of  God  usually  taught  on 
earth  is  utterly  incorrect.     He  is  not  a  glorified 


GUIDES,  INSPIRATION.  AND  GOD  43 

mortal  sitting  on  a  golden  throne,  not  a  vengeful 
nor  jealous  God — not,  in  a  way,  even  a  "  personal  " 
God  to  be  propitiated  to  grant  special  gifts  to  a 
favored  few.  He  is  not  finite,  but  infinite;  but, 
because  it  is  so  difficult  to  realize  so  vast  a  fact,  we 
feel  on  earth  we  want  to  locate  and  limit  our  idea  of 
Grod  to  bring  it  within  our  understanding. 

God  is  everywhere  and  in  everything :  in  the  trees, 
in  the  flowers,  in  the  air,  and  in  the  sunshine.  God 
is  all  good,  all  beauty,  all  purity. 

God  is  not  limited,  nor  existing  only  in  the  seven 
spheres.  He  is  also  in  the  space  beyond,  for  He  fills 
all  space. 

The  whole  Universe  is  of  God;  the  Planets  re- 
volve from  the  power  of  God  within  them,  touched 
and  supported  by  power  without^ 
i^God  is  creative,  from  Him  all  life  springs.  Ele- 
mental man  is  a  manifestation  of  God-power 
through  form,  which  in  the  lower  creation  is  mani- 
fest in  a  different  way,  though  he  can  deteriorate  to 
less  than  they. 

All  life  as  projected  into  human  bodies  is  there- 
fore a  "  bit  of  God,"  and  we  are  in  consequence 
truly  His  sons  and  by  that  fact  immortal. 

God  works  automatically.  Those  who  live  har- 
moniously with  His  laws  can  draw  great  power; 


44  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

they  find  too,  in  time,  that  soul  satisfaction  which 
brings  the  peace  that  passes  all  understanding. 

I  don't  only  know  this,  but  feel  actually  con- 
scious of  it :  if  you  are  a  ray  of  the  sun  you  cannot 
mistake  yourself  for  a  tallow  candle.  This  is  why 
it  is  untrue  and  incorrect  to  teach  men  they  are 
"  miserable  sinners  "  by  birth.  The  body  is  not  the 
man;  his  spirit  is  of  God.  However  ignorant  of 
the  fact  a  man  may  be,  his  soul  away  in  its  dim  con- 
sciousness knows  this,  and  often  in  an  emergency 
the  "  spark  divine "  asserts  itself,  and  the  man 
rises  to  the  great  occasion.  It  has  been  proved  many 
times  in  this  war.  k' 

vGod's  laws  are  so  steady,  so  regular,  so  business- 
like, they  can  operate  to  great  advantage  in  commer- 
cialism or  organization  of  any  kind  on  earth,  pro- 
vided these  things  are  brought  into  line  with  thera.) 


A  DAY'S  WORK 

f  You  want  me  to  give  you  details  of  a  typical 
day  of  my  life?  You  know  there  is  no  time  here — 
that  is  only  a  limitation  of  the  earth-plane — so  we 
will  make  it  a  day  by  your  calculations,  and  suppose 
we  begin  at  midnight,  for  that  is  when  I  come  for 
you. 

You  know,  for  I  have  often  told  you,  how  when 
your  body  sleeps  your  soul  comes  over  here  and 
we  spend  hours  together,  you  have  sometimes  dimly 
remembered  things  that  happened  as  in  a  dream. 
Thousands  of  people  come  over  in  this  way  every 
night,  and  are  more  awake  and  alive  while  here  than 
on  earth  in  their  mortal  bodies.  To  do  this,  people 
must  be  spiritually  evolved  to  a  certain  degree. 
Well,  we  go  together  to  various  places;  sometimes 
we  work  on  the  third  sphere  among  those  who  have 
just  wakened  in  the  spirit-world,  and  are  bewildered, 
and  puzzled,  and  strange  in  their  new  surroundings. 
We  explain  to  them  where  they  are  and  bring  their 
friends  to  see  them. 

I  know  it  seems  curious  to  you  that  you  should 
be  able  to  do  this  even  better  than  I,  as  you  are  still 

45 


46  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

in  a  mortal  body ;  but  that  is  the  very  reason.  You 
see,  you  are  the  "  half-way  house,"  as  it  were,  for 
along  that  little  cord  that  connects  your  soul  and 
body  are  travelling  thoughts  and  desires  of  the 
world  in  which  you  live.  You  are  therefore  more 
in  touch  with  the  earth  and  bring  its  atmosphere 
with  you,  and  so  feel  more  familiar  to  one  who  has 
just  come  over.  You  are  still  controlled  and  limited 
by  your  earth-body  while  connected  with  it. 


C^ 


Night  before  last  we  were  helping  a  boy  whom 
we  could  not  make  realize  his  new  condition,  when 
his  mother  came,  to  whom  he  had  been  devoted 
(she  had  been  in  the  spirit- world  two  years).  He 
burst  into  tears  and  said,  "  I  know  now  I  am  dream- 
ing, for  my  mother  is  dead  and  I  shall  never  see  her 
again."  His  mother  put  her  arms  round  him  and 
kissed  him,  and  we  left  them  together. 

The  meetings  and  reconciliations  here  are  wonder- 
ful and  touching;  you  and  I  often  hug  each  other 
for  very  joy  and  sympathy.  .  .  . 

On  other  occasions  I  take  you  to  see  one  of  the 
beautiful  scenes  in  the  higher  spheres  which  I  have 
described  to  you.  ;,  We  have  been  together  to  the 
"  Blue  "  country,  where  there  are  a  series  of  won- 
derful mountains  which  impress  one  by  their  curi- 


A  DAY'S  WORK  47 

ously  calm  grandeur: (no  rugged  rocks,  nor  jagged 
outlines;  the  heights  are  majestic  but  smooth  and 
rounded,  and  surround  one  on  every  side.  As  far 
as  eye  can  see  the  color  everywhere  is  blue  of  vary- 
ing shades,  from  almost  grey  on  the  mountain-tops 
to  purple  in  the  valleys,  and  every  intermediate  shade 
wonderfully  blended  in  between.';        •,,! 

/Color  has  wonderful  properties.  I  In  this  case 
each  color  is  confined  to  a  certain  particular  locality. 
For  a  few  miles  away  everything  is  varied  in  the 
normal  manner.  There  is  also  a  "  Pink  "  country 
and  a  "  Yellow  "  one.  You  get  these  effects  on 
earth  sometimes  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  glow  of  a 
sunset.^ 

'^Blue  is  a  spiritual  color,  pink  a  love  condition, 
and  yellow  an  intellectual  one.  -  .  "^  4^^^' 

These  color-effects  help  spirits,  not  by  giving, 
but  by  stimulating  the  perception  of  those  particular 
qualities.  As  you  know,  here  in  the  "  Summerland  " 
spirits  are  still  learning  and  progressing,  but  are 
very  far  from  perfection. 

Many  come  over  here  well  developed  mentally 
but  lacking  in  spirituality;  others  are  very  spiritual 
but  require  that  mental  quality  which  is  necessary 
if  their  spirituality  is  to  be  more  than  a  divine 
ecstasy;  while  sqme  have  neglected  to  cultivate 


48  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

along  with  these  good  gifts  enough  of  that  love 
and  charity  which  is  essential  to  those  who  are  will- 
ing to  bear  each  other's  burdens  and  so  fulfill  that 
law  of  Christ,  which  is  the  true  way  of  progress. 

People  on  earth  are  now  recognizing  the  proper- 
ties of  color  and  are  beginning  to  use  it  in  a  small 
way.^  It  is  useful  for  the  cure  of  certain  diseases, 
for  it  has  a  marked  effect  on  mental  conditions,  and, 
as  you  know,  various  colored  lights  cause  certain 
curious  changes  in  plants  and  flowers. 

When  it  is  time  for  you  to  return  I  take  you  back 
and  then  go  home  for  a  rest.  I  bathe  in  the  lake, 
and,  refreshed,  go  either  to  earth  again  to  help  on 
the  battlefield,  or  if  I  am  not  required  for  that  I  go 
on  with  my  study  of  psychic  laws. 

After  this,  it  would  now  be  your  afternoon,  I 
have  some  recreation  and  amuse  myself;  later  I  go 
to  look  up  friends  on  earth.  On  other  days  I  listen 
to  music,  which  is  beautiful  here  beyond  description : 
it  thrills  one.  You  know  I  used  not  to  care  very 
much  about  it  on  earth  before  I  came  over. 
^  Tell  Daddy  when  he  plays  the  piano  in  the  even- 
ings I  see  his  music  in  "  colors "  all  the  time. 
Nearly  all  major  keys  are  like  primary  colors:* 
(*'  C  "  and  "  G  "  specially  look  red  and  yellow,  "  E  " 
not  so  decidedly;  "  D,"  ."  F,"  and  "A  "  are  second- 


A  DAY'S  WORK  49 

ary  colors  such  as  mauve  and  green  and  certain 
shades  of  violet. 

"  B  "  is  white.  The  sharps  and  flats  are  varieties 
of  these;  they  tinge  of  blended  colors.  The  colors 
vary  in  relation  to  the  other  notes  played;  for  in- 
stance, "  C  "  sharp,  though  actually  the  same  note 
on  the  piano,  is  different  when  used  as  "  D  "  flat. 

Occasionally  I  talk  to  most  interesting  people, 
men  who  were  noted  on  earth  and  left  their  mark 
there  as  great  statesmen,  scholars,  poets,  musicians, 
teachers,  etc.  There,  of  course,  I  should  never 
have  known  them, — diflferences  of  age,  wealth,  posi- 
tion, etc.,  would  have  made  it  impossible, — but 
here  there  are  no  artificial  barriers,  and  a  com- 
munity of  interest  is  a  sufficient  bond  of  friend- 
ship. 

You  say  you  are  surprised  some  of  the  men  I 
mentioned  have  not  progressed  higher.  Well,  they 
could  have  done  had  they  so  desired,  but  many  are 
anxious  to  help  those  on  earth  still,  to  see  work  and 
ideas  through  that  they  themselves  originated;  oth- 
ers have  remained  to  help  their  friends  through  this 
world  crisis. 

When  you  get  beyond  the  third  sphere  contact 
becomes  more  difficult,  and  it  is  only  when  you  be- 
gin to  feel  "  impersonal  "  and  have  no  direct  inter- 


50  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

est  left  in  people  on  the  earth-plane  that  you  desire 
to  go  on. 

Eventually  these  spirits  will  probably  progress 
more  quickly  through  this  work,  for  as  they  give 
help  to  those  below  it  is  also  given  to  them,  accord- 
ing to  their  needs,  by  higher  spirits. 

The  law  of  compensation  works  in  this  way  even 
in  your  world,  for  there,  if  love  is  given  unselfishly, 
generously,  and  wisely,  it  will  be  returned  in  greater 
measure  by  spirits  in  the  higher  life  by  thought  and 
influence  which  will  materialize  according  to  the 
requirements  of  the  earth-plane. 

Meanwhile,  life  is  very  happy  here  and  full  of 
interest;  even  the  grief  and  pain  of  those  you  love 
and  have  left  behind  does  not  affect  one  in  the  old 
way,  for  one  can  see  beyond  the  trouble  of  the  day 
and  know  it  is  only  for  a  little  while.  \ 


VARIOUS   PEOPLE,   CHILDREN,  AND 
AFFINITIES 


What  makes  this  place  so  interesting  is  the  variety 
of  the  people  in  it,  just  as  the  world  is  interesting 
for  the  same  reason.  It  would  be  very  dull  if 
human  beings  were  all  exactly  of  the  same  stereo- 
typed pattern  physically  and  mentally.  I  think  that 
is  what  made  the  old  idea  of  the  conventional 
Heaven  so  uninviting ;  either  you  would  have  had  to 
lose  all  individuality  and  become  an  "  angel  to  pat- 
tern," so  as  to  be  suitable  to  the  environment,  or  else 
one  would  have  to  lose  one's  sense  of  humor;  for 
can't  you  imagine  the  idea  of  one's  friends,  large 
and  small,  old  and  young,  fat  and  thin,  some  with 
some  knowledge  of  music,  others  with  none  at  all, 
sitting,  clad  in  white,  playing  harps? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  we  do  eventually  get 
to  that  Heaven  which  I  believe  exists,  we  probably 
shall  have  become  "  stereotyped  "  to  a  certain  extent, 
for  we  shall  be  so  refined  as  to  have  become  "  all 
spirit,"  and  so  nearer  God.  Probably  our  joy  then 
may  be  in  music,  for  it  is,  I  suppose,  the  most 
exquisite  sense,  and  even  here  it  has  held  me  thrilled 

51 


52  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

and  spellbound ;  and  you  know  I  am  not  musical,  and 
could  rarely  rise  to  anything  higher  than  a  catchy, 
popular  melody,  or  "  chopsticks,"  to  which  you  so 
much  objected !  v  • 

I  suppose  these  ideas  in  the  first  place  started 
through  the  visions  of  saints  who  did  not  realize 
they  were  seeing  states  "  afar  off,"  and  thought 
they  were  conditions  soon  after  death.  .  .  . 

One  amusing  man  I  have  met  here  is  quite  a 
"  crank "  in  his  way.  He  says  iie  thinks,  after 
having  passed  through  the  seven  spheres  of  which 
we  have  heard,  that  spirits  must  pass  on  still 
farther,  as  otherwise  even  these  places  would  be 
overcrowded  eventually:  he  thinks  they  may  go  to 
the  moon  I  He  has  no  grounds  for  this  theory ;  it  is, 
he  acknowledges,  purely  his  own  idea !  If  reincarna- 
tion is  a  fact,  as  I  believe  it  is,  then  of  course  there 
would  be  no  overcrowding,  for  so  large  a  number  of 
spirits  are  constantly  returning  for  further  earth 
experience.  In  any  case,  as  it  is  probably  several 
thousands  of  years  away,  there  will  be  plenty  of 
opportunity  to  study  it  farther  on ! 

I  also  know  some  men  here  who  are  very  keen 
on  engineering  and  are  trying  to  invent  labor- 
saving  devices  of  every  kind. 

They  think  it  will   be  possible  to   invent   tiny 


PEOPLE,  CHILDREN,  AND  AFFINITIES       53 

machines  which  will  enable  men  to  fly,  not  by  sitting 
in  an  aeroplane,  but  by  propelling  each  individual 
separately  through  the  air — not  high,  just  a  little 
above  the  ground.  It  would  require  very  great 
power  very  much  compressed  into  a  small  space,  so 
that  you  could  strap,  say,  a  large  knapsack  on  your 
back  and  sail  along  above  the  ground  without 
fatigue.  It  may  come  some  day,  but  not  in  your 
time,  I  think,  Mum. 

Another  man  I  know  thinks  moving  pavements 
raised  about  fifteen  feet  above  the  road,  on  the 
principle  of  the  staircases  at  the  tube  stations,  will 
be  used  in  large  and  crowded  cities. 

They  would  go  in  one  direction  on  one  side  of 
the  road  and  in  the  opposite  on  the  other,  with  stairs 
and  stationary  platforms  at  intervals.  There  would 
be  no  attendants  required,  for  no  tickets  would  be 
necessary ;  the  expenses  would  go  on  to  the  rates  and 
it  would  be  free  to  all — though  I  acknowledge  the 
small  boys  would  find  it  irresistible  till  they  got  used 
to  the  novelty  of  it!  This  would  save  a  certain 
amount  of  vehicular  traffic.  There  would  stillbe  the 
ordinary  pavement  below  for  those  who  wished  to 
walk  slowly  or  shop-gaze. 


^o 


ou  want  to  know  something  further  about  the 


54  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

children  who  come  over?  You  remember  at  first 
you  were  quite  surprised  when  I  described  your 
brother  John  to  you,  and  did  not  recognize  him 
when  I  told  you  he  was  a  grown-up  man;  you  had 
always  thought  of  him  as  still  remaining  a  little 
child. 

He  looks  only  about  my  age :  of  course  in  earth- 
life  he  would  have  been  over  forty.  Here  little 
ones  grow  up  but  never  become  old,  for  they  have 
no  cares  and  worries  nor  the  pains  of  a  material 
body  to  trouble  them. 

Many  women  here  care  for  these  little  ones. 
Some  have  left  children  on  earth  they  loved ;  others, 
the  childless,  who  love  children,  look  after  them. 
Every  child,  even  if  unwanted  on  earth,  can  find  a 
loving  mother  here.V^ 

(Many  an  earth-mother  comes  over  at  night  when 
her  body  sleeps  to  see  her  baby,  and  though  with 
her  limited  conscious  mind  she  may  think  of  it  as 
an  infant  always,  her  spirit-mind  knows  the  facts, 
as  she  will  recognize  when  she  herself  comes  here 
permanently.  These  children  grow  in  soul  and  mind 
and  body,  which  is  just  as  strong  and  more  substan- 
tial than  an  earth-body,  for  it  is  indestructible. 

They  are  all  beautiful  in  varying  degrees.  They 
learn  very  quickly,  for  their  minds  are  open :  they 


PEOPLE,  CHILDREN,  AND  AFFINITIES      55 

have  no  consciousness  that  evil  exists,  so  more 
readily  absorb  all  they  are  taught  here,  and  they 
very  soon  go  on  to  the  higher  planes. 

While  on  the  third  sphere  they  return  to  earth  to 
play  with  children  there.  It  is  part  of  their  educa- 
tion, and  enables  them  to  understand,  and  so  later 
to  help  others  still  in  the  mortal  body. 

As  many  children  in  the  world  are  clairvoyant 
they  often  see  these  spirit  playfellows,  and  if  they 
could  keep  this  consciousness  it  would  often  be  a 
help  to  them  in  later  life. 

Unfortunately,  many  grown-up  people  who  do 
not  understand  these  facts  discourage  the  idea,  and 
so  in  time  the  child  loses  this  consciousness.  The 
children  here  all  see  Christ:  they  seem  to  instinc- 
tively understand  Him  and  His  Mother.  Having 
occupied  a  mortal  body  such  a  short  time  they  easily 
go  back  to  the  things  of  the  Spirit.  .  .  . 

Now  you  want  to  know  what  happens  when  one 
of  a  married  pair  dies  young  and  the  other  lives  to 
be  old  ?  Well,  it  depends  to  a  certain  degree  on  the 
life  of  the  one  left  on  earth  as  to  what  extent  death 
separates  them.  The  few  years  of  time  would  not 
actually  make  much  difference.  I  will  give  you  some 
examples  of  cases  I  know  here,  and  explain  through 
them  what  I  mean.    The  actual  soul  does  not  "  age  " 


56  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

permanently,  though  it  carries  the  impress  of  the 
body  when  it  first  comes  over,  but  by  degrees  here, 
freed  from  material  cares,  the  signs  of  "  age " 
disappear  and  the  spirit-body  looks  like  that  of  an 
adult  in  the  prime  of  life  and  in  perfect  health.  You 
can't  tell  by  looking  at  a  person  in  the  ordinary  way 
on  the  earth-plane  how  their  souls  would  look  at 
first  on  release  from  the  body ;  you  might  judge  from 
the  character,  perhaps. 

I  know  a  man  here  (let's  call  him  "Charles") 
who  came  over  fourteen  years  ago,  leaving  his  wife 
(we  never  speak  of  widows  here),  to  whom  he  was 
devoted.  They  were  true  affinities  and  spiritually 
developed  people,  and  though  not  spiritualists  pro- 
fessedly she  was  so  conscious  of  her  husband's 
continued  existence  that  she  lived  as  far  as  she 
could  as  she  knew  he  would  wish. 

She  neglected  no  duties,  made  no  parade  of  her 
great  grief,  and  studied  in  every  way  in  order  to  be 
his  mental  and  spiritual  equal  when  she  should 
rejoin  him.  She  came  over  recently,  and  on  this 
account  looks  as  young  as  he  does. 

I  know  another  case  of  a  different  kind  (Iet*s 
call  the  husband  "  Tom  "),  of  a  young  couple  mar- 
ried at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  was  killed 
at  the  Front  a  year  after. 


PEOPLE,  CHILDREN,  AND  AFFINITIES      57 

His  wife  made  a  great  parade  of  her  grief,  wore 
elaborate,  expensive,  and  becoming  mourning,  and 
even  contemplated  suicide,  but  decided  it  was  too 
painful!  She  then  found  she  could  get  into  com- 
munication with  Tom.  Eventually  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  return  to  speak  to  her,  for  she  only- 
wanted  him  to  help  her  in  various  material  ways, 
and  made  him  unhappy  with  continual  reproaches 
and  grumbling.  Being  out  of  the  physical  world  he 
was  no  longer  in  a  position  to  help  her  there,  but 
she  had  no  interest  in  spiritual  or  even  intellectual 
things.  Under  these  circumstances  her  soul  will 
not  of  course  develop  properly,  and  so  will  "  age  " 
for  lack  of  care. 

She  has  married  again,  but  "Tom"  does  not 
grieve;  he  quite  understands  they  were  unsuited  to 
one  another,  and  had  they  lived  on  earth  longer  to- 
gether would  soon  have  discovered  it. ' 


THE  DIFFICULTIES  OF  COMMUNICATION 

/There  is  no  subject  probably  that  requires  to  be 
considered  with  such  care  as  this  of  "  spiritualism." 
You  understand  how  essential  it  is  to  use  your  own 
judgment  in  the  matter,  and  common  sense  in 
weighing  all  you  are  told. 

There  are  so  many  limitations  to  be  considered 
— the  sitter's,  the  medium's,  and  the  spirit's;  and 
these  are  very  severe. 

In  communicating,  the  spirit-message  comes  first 
from  the  spirit,  who  has  to  concentrate  to  give  it 
to  the  "  control "  (the  spirit  actually  using  the 
medium's  organization),  who  has  to  impress  it  on 
the  medium's  brain  to  such  an  extent  that  the  nerves 
and  muscles  of  the  mouth  and  tongue  of  the  medium 
will  respond  to  the  action  of  the  brain,  and  will 
speak  the  message  as  it  has  been  given.  '. / 

\  I  often  think  it  wonderful  how  much  does  come 
through,  when  one  realizes  the  many  difficulties. 

The  bias  of  the  medium's  mind,  impressions  from 
the  sitter's  subconscious  self,  unconscious  telepathy 
from  other  minds,  and  so  forth,  all  have  to  be 
taken  into  consideration. > 

»  Telepathy  is  not  so  easy  as  some  people  imagine; 

9» 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  COMMUNICATION    59 

if  it  were,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  satisfying 
any  sitter  who  went  to  a  medium,  for  they  would 
only  have  to  do  some  mind-reading,  whereas  many 
go  empty  away. 

You  say  spirits  so  often  through  mediums  say  that 
the  sitters  have  great  work  to  do,  wonderful  talents, 
etc.,  and  you  can't  understand  it,  as  these  people 
do  nothing  in  particular  eventually.  Well,  their 
spirit- friends  may  see  they  have  the  capacity;  as  to 
whether  they  will  make  use  of  it  is  another  matter. 
Just  as  in  school  a  master  may  realize  that  many 
of  his  boys  have  exceptional  talent  in  various  direc- 
tions, and  may  say  so,  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
will  do  well  in  life,  for  it  entirely  depends  on  their 
use  of  their  capabilities.  By  being  told  of  their 
possibilities,  their  ambition  may  be  roused  to  make 
special  efforts. 

Try  and  develop  your  own  psychic  powers,  if  they 
are  sufficient  to  make  it  worth  your  while  for  your 
own  comfort,  and  certainly  every  one  should  try  and 
cultivate  "  spiritual  gifts."  Of  course  they  are  not 
synonymous  terms.  It  is  possible  to  be  very  psychic 
and  not  at  all  spiritual.  Psychic  talent  is  a  "  gift," 
like  music,  painting,  writing,  etc.,  and  like  these 
can  be  used  for  beautiful  and  good  things  or  the 
reverse.    / 


6o  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Every  one  can  learn  to  live  in  two  planes,  the 
material  and  the  spiritual,  to  be  a  "practical 
mystic,"  to  know  the  truths  and  wonders  and 
beauties  of  the  life  spiritual  as  well  as  to  perform 
the  duties  and  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  life 
physical. 

Many  people  would  be  great  in  the  highest  sense 
of  the  word,  if  they  would  only  believe  that  the 
source  of  unlimited  good  and  knowledge  is  there  to 
draw  upon.  The  supply  is  unlimited,  the  only 
limitation  being  their  own  capacity. . 

We  know  and  remember  in  the  spirit-world  every- 
thing that  has  happened  in  our  earth-life  (that  is, 
if  we  wished  to  remember  we  could  do  so),  as  the 
subconscious  mind  is  so  active  here.  If  I  could 
come  and  speak  to  you  direct  with  my  spirit-mouth 
you  would  get  any  test  you  wanted,  but  as  it  is  I 
have  to  operate  through  a  strange  brain  and  per- 
sonality. 

People  sometimes  say,  "Why  does  my  loved 
one  not  come  to  me  direct?"  The  "loved 
one"  probably  does  very  often,  but  cannot  make 
himself  seen  or  heard,  and  if  he  could,  might 
frighten  his  relatives  if  they  did  not  under- 
stand. 

The  "  controls  "  chosen  for  mediums  are  generally 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  COMMUNICATION       6i 

children  or  other  what  we  call  "  uneducated  people," 
because  their  brains  are  more  or  less  "  blank  "  and 
pliable ;  otherwise  you  can  imagine  it  would  add  still 
further  difficulties  and  limitations  to  communica- 
tions, v^ 


THE  SPHERES  AND  THE  SOURCE  OF  ALL 
POWER 

v(OuR  bodies  here  are  not  made  of  ether;  we  call 
them  that  as  they  are  the  bodies  in  which  we  mani- 
fest on  the  "  Etheric  "  Sphere. 

Your  physical  bodies  are  walking  about  on  a 
physical  plane;  they  are  of  the  earth  earthy. 
Though  you  call  them  "  physical "  they  do  not  look 
like  the  earth  really ;  they  look  like  a  thing  apart. 

Our  Sphere  is  in  the  Ether,  resting  on  the  Ether, 
not  on  nor  near  the  earth-plane,  nor  interpenetrating 
the  earth  as  some  people  think.  Our  Spheres  are 
built  of  and  formed  in  Ether,  therefore  you  can 
call  them  "  Spiritual "  or  "  Etheric  "  planes  as  you 
like.  My  body  as  I  exist  on  that  Spiritual  or 
Etheric  plane  is  a  spiritual  or  etheric  body,  Just  as 
my  physical  body  was  termed  "  physical "  when  I 
was  functioning  in  the  physical  plane.  We  derive 
the  name  of  the  body  from  the  plane  we  are  on; 
"  physical  "  body  for  physical  plane,  "  astral  "  body 
for  astral,  and  "  etheric  "  body  for  etheric  plane. 

My  present  body  is  made  of  chemicals,  and  gases, 
and  atoms — atoms  certainly  of  a  finer  kind  than  one 

63 


SPHERES  AND  SOURCE  OF  ALL  POWER     63 

gets  on  the  earth-plane.  These  are  held  together  in 
much  the  same  way  as  the  atoms  of  the  physical 
body,  but  this  body  does  not  disintegrate  in  the 
same  way  as  the  physical  one  does,  because  the  life 
on  the  third  Sphere  is  sure  to  be  as  long  and  perhaps 
many  times  longer  than  the  one  on  the  earth-plane. 

There  is  something  substantial  about  my  spirit- 
body.  Suppose  I  had  to  leave  the  third  Plane  and  to 
go  to  the  fifth,  sixth,  or  seventh  Plane  (for  good  I 
mean,  not  for  a  visit).  I  know  then  my  entire 
etheric  body  would  undergo  a  change:  the  atoms 
would  be  of  a  still  lighter  kind,  because  the  nearer 
I  go  to  the  God- force,  or  Life- force,  the  more  actual 
Life-force  there  is  running  through  my  body  and 
holding  those  atoms  together. 

Because  of  this  greater  force  in  the  higher  spheres 
we  would  require  less  chemical  matter. 

On  the  third  Plane  the  body  in  the  way  of  its 
chemical  constituents  would  be  very  much  like  that 
of  the  earth-plane — not  so  much  in  quantity,  but 
the  same  in  kind.  Is  it  not  correct  that  hydrogen 
and  similar  gases  or  chemicals  can  be  obtained  in  a 
grosser  or  coarser  or  in  a  more  refined  state,  a 
lighter  state — lighter  in  pressure?  Our  bodies  are 
made  of  the  extremely  refined  variety. 

Take  coal,  Mummy,  for  example;  you  can  set 


64  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

it  alight  in  the  raw  state,  and  you  have  a  coarse 
flame  of  gas,  or  even  if  we  don't  light  it  we  know 
there  is  gas  there  of  a  coarse  kind. 

If  that  gas  is  taken  and  put  through  certain  pro- 
cesses it  becomes  purer  and  more  refined  in  nature, 
simply  because  it  has  passed  through  those  processes. 
It  has  passed  through  and  over  something,  and  is 
farther  from  its  foundation  in  the  lump  of  coal. 
The  gas  is  drawn  from  the  coal  and  blown  right 
across  steam,  and  when  it  reaches  the  other  side  it 
is  caught  in  a  purer  state. 

Now  we  come  to  the  point.  The  gases  and  chemi- 
cals that  go  to  make  up  our  physical  bodies,  we 
know,  need  not  be  drawn  only  from  the  surface,  or 
just  above  it,  of  the  earth-plane. 

We  have  proved  those  gases  exist  some  distance 
from  the  earth-plane.  The  farther  you  go  the  purer 
and  more  refined  in  nature  are  those  gases  and 
chemicals.  Just  as  your  physical  body  is  made  of 
the  grosser  gases  which  belong  to  the  earth-plane, 
so  our  bodies  are  made  of  the  finer  gases  which  exist 
in  the  air  or  atmosphere  of  our  plane. 

I'll  give  you  a  little  chart  (see  page  72).  Draw 
a  round  for  the  earth ;  around  that  put  seven  circles 
one  outside  the  other,  for  the  seven  spheres.  Out- 
side those,  filling  all  space,  is  an  enormous  force,  an 


SPHERES  AND  SOURCE  OF  ALL  POWER     65 

actual  force  which  seems  to  contain  or  consist  of 
many  strong  powers  or  forces  that  we  think  we 
have  discovered  on  the  earth-plane — electricity  to 
wit,  radium,  etc.;  but  there  are  many  more  still 
undiscovered  on  the  earth-plane,  but  which  we 
know  are  contained  in  this,  the  God- force  or  Life- 
force. 

Electricity  was  always  there,  but  we  did  not  know 
how  to  use  it.  I  am  mentioning  "  radium  "  and 
*'  electricity  "  because  you  might  otherwise  ask  me 
what  force  it  is,  and  why  we  call  it  a  force.  We 
know  it's  a  force  because  we  know  that  everything 
that  has  life  is  animated  by  that  force,  and  the 
farther  you  go  from  the  earth-plane  and  the  nearer 
you  go  to  it  the  more  you  can  feel  the  force. 

Electricity  is  only  one  of  the  many  constituents 
of  the  force,  but  we  know  there  are  other  manifesta- 
tions of  power  in  it;  but  we  don't  know  what  to  call 
them  yet,  as  they  have  not  been  discovered  on  the 
physical  plane,  where  God  meant  all  His  work  and 
all  His  goodness  to  be  discovered  by  man.  Man 
names  these  things  and  attains  consciousness  and 
understanding  and  control  over  them.  In  the  spirit- 
world  we  don't  call  them  by  a  name,  we  understand 
it's  one  enormous  power,  and  we  don't  give  it  a 
name — we  just  feel  it,  and  know  it's  there;  but  as 


66  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

this  power  penetrates  through  the  spirit-spheres  and 
reaches  the  earth-plane  it  seems  to  become  divided 
into  different  forms  or  manifestations  of  power — 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  in  man's  power  to  use  it  for 
different  purposes. 

Though  it  seems  to  come  in  a  massed  condition, 
as  it  touches  the  earth-plane  it  divides  itself  into 
different  manifestations  or  kinds  of  power.  Man 
has  only  of  late  years  learnt  to  use  some  of  these 
powers  and  to  draw  off  and  conserve  a  certain  part, 
such  as  electricity,  for  instance.  With  electricity  he 
has  learnt  how  to  draw  upon,  to  "  generate  it,"  as 
he  calls  it — which  means  he  has  learnt  to  draw  part 
of  the  massed  power  and  to  convert  it  to  one  par- 
ticular species  of  form  of  power. 

I  have  told  you  before,  the  God- force  holds  to- 
gether every  thing  on  the  earth-plane — animates  it. 
Take  a  humble  thing — a  cabbage,  for  instance.  I 
say  it's  the  God-force  (or  Life-force,  if  you  prefer 
to  call  it  that)  in  that  cabbage  that  keeps  it  alive. 
When  that  force  is  withdrawn  it  dies,  disintegrates 
(some  would-be  wit  will  say,  "What  about  the 
God-force  when  it's  boiled  ?  "  ) .  The  boiling  process 
would  eliminate  some  of  the  Life-force,  and  what 
remained  would  be  changed  or  converted  to  a  differ- 
ent form.    Some  people  will  say,  "  It's  all  nonsense; 


SPHERES  AND  SOURCE  OF  ALL  POWER     67 

the  cabbage  is  composed  of  so  many  ounces  of  this, 
and  so  many  drams  of  that."  Quite  right,  it  may 
be  so;  and  it's  only  held  there  and  manifested  be- 
cause the  God-  or  Life- force  has  projected,  and  is 
holding  it  there.  Directly  the  Life-force  is  gone, 
one  of  the  gases  begins  to  get  less,  and  the  cabbage 
decays  and  gets  mouldy;  then  another  material  is 
forced  out,  for  it  is  only  the  Life-force  which  is 
keeping  and  holding  them  together.  I'll  give  you 
a  crude  illustration.  Suppose  you  want  to  make  a 
lump  of  plaster.  You  get  the  dry  powder  and  bind 
it  together  with  some  water.  The  God-  or  Life- 
force  is  to  all  atomic  matter  what  the  water  is  to 
dry  matter — it  consolidates  it. 

The  whole  Universe  is  full  of  revolving  atoms, 
but  unless  they  are  gathered  and  solidified  in  a  mass 
you  would  not  see  them.  Take  a  handful  of  earth. 
Chemists,  by  employing  certain  gases,  can  blow 
that  earth  which  is  visible  (and  the  gases  employed 
may  not  be)  into  absolute  invisibility.  Earth  is 
only  atoms  gathered  into  solid  form;  if  you  can 
scatter  them  sufficiently  they  go  out  into  the  Uni- 
verse again.  They  would  go  back  into  space  from 
whence  they  came.  Now,  for  a  "  twister,"  you 
might  say,  "  Could  one  distinguish  by  any  means 
that  these  are  atoms  of  dust  or  of  earth?  "    They 


68  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

are  so  minute  that  though  they  would  be  dust,  it 
would  be  ridiculous  to  call  them  that;  it  would 
sound  an  exaggerated  term,  as  if  you  called  a  tiny 
grain  of  soil  a  "  piece  of  earth."  These  atoms  are 
not  noticed  in  space. 

It  seems  to  me  the  planets  are  like  parts  of  a  tree, 
a  fruit  tree,  and  as  if  at  the  end  of  the  branches 
things  grow — fruit,  or  leaves,  or  flowers :  the  mani- 
festation of  life  to  the  onlooker  is  at  the  tips  or 
terminations  of  the  branches.  The  life  or  sap 
comes,  doesn't  it?  from  the  trunk;  but  to  the  eye 
that  is  hidden.  Take  a  cluster  at  the  end  of  a  branch 
to  be  our  earth-plane.  Just  as  the  Life- force  oozes 
up  the  trunk  and  along  the  branch,  feeding  the 
cluster  till  it  grows,  and  grows,  and  grows,  so  does 
the  Life- force  stretch  out  an  arm,  so  to  speak,  to 
one  place  in  the  Universe,  and  gathers  atoms  to- 
gether by  the  food  and  power  it  is  pouring  forth 
into  that  particular  place  and  holding  a  cluster 
or  a  world  together.  It's  a  branch  of  God, 
with  its  manifestations  of  life  at  the  tip  of  the 
branch. 

V  The  tree  is  the  Universe,  the  God-force  is  the 
sap  which  supplies  the  life,  the  planets  are  the 
clusters  of  fruit. 

Everything  in  existence  is  created  and  kept  going 


SPHERES  AND  SOURCE  OF  ALL  POWER   69 

by  the  Life-force;  it  is  Life-force  manifested  in 
different  ways.f'' 

■\  Whenever  there  is  disease  it  means  a  little  of  the 
Life- force  has  gone  from  whatever  part  of  you  is 
diseased.  When  the  Life- force  is  abruptly  with- 
drawn from  one  particular  limb  the  manifestation 
of  disease  is  more  noticeable  than  if  the  Life-force 
was  simply  withdrawn  a  little  from  every  part  of 
the  body., 

•^The  other  planets  have  their  own  spirit-spheres 
round  them.  All  in  between  and  around  every  planet 
is  the  God-force;  if  you  eventually  went  beyond  the 
seventh  sphere  you  would  get  into  space  and  become 
part  of  the  Infinite.  You  would  then  have  no  defined 
or  finite  form,  for  you  would  no  longer  be  finite; 
you  would  then  be  only  a  consciousness.  '^ 

(hs,  in  the  physical  you  were  conscious  of  the 
pfiysical  more  than  of  any  other  state,  so  if  you 
progressed  and  became  part  of  the  Infinite  you 
would  then  become  conscious  of  God  and  God 
only. 

You  would  not  want  to  express  or  impose  your 
little  personality  on  others  any  more ;  you  would  be 
content  to  be  of  God  and  of  the  great  Infinite;  that 
would  be  to  be  divine. 

Whatever  state  you  are  in,  you  are  conscious  in 


70  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

that  state.  On  the  earth  you  are  conscious  of  the 
physical  state,  you  wonder  why  you  can't  be  more 
conscious  of  the  astral;  in  the  spiritual  you  are 
conscious  of  the  spiritual  state;  in  the  Infinite  you 
are  conscious  only  of  God. 

I  might  tell  you,  no  one  we  have  ever  known  or 
heard  of  has  ever  stepped  off  into  the  Infinite.  It 
will  probably  be  a  few  million  years  before  we  shall 
want  to  go  into  the  Infinite;  it  means  the  submerg- 
ing of  the  personality.  All  personal  desire  must 
be  dead;  we  have  to  learn  to  wish  to  be  of  and 
as  God.  That's  where  the  old  idea  of  sacrifice 
comes;  it's  the  giving  up  of  some  personal  de- 
sire.  .    .    . 

I  always  start  off  meaning  to  be  matter  of  fact 
and  scientific,  and  find  myself  slipping  back  to  the 
great  spiritual  truths  to  which  science  is  only  the 
stepping-stone. 

I  understand  why  spirits  don't  return  and  give 
more  about  the  "  make-up  "of  the  spirit- world  in 
a  scientific  way.  There  is  so  much  that  is  so  difficult 
to  put  into  words  at  all,  especially  to  have  to  im- 
print on  another  person  (who  is  still  in  the  limita- 
tion of  the  physical  body — the  medium)  that  which 
to  us  is  a  great  shining  light — the  truth.  We  feel  it, 
we  move  in  it,  we  breathe  it;  but  it's  too  great  and 


SPHERES  AND  SOURCE  OF  ALL  POWER     71 

vast  a  thing  to  explain  in  an  hour  or  so,  for  no 
sooner  do  I  start  to  explain  one  phase,  than  I  find 
it  leads  me  to  have  to  explain  another,  and  then 
another,  and  so  on.    We  are  nearer  the  Infinite  than      y^j! 
you  are,  and  are  therefore  more  naturally  conscious        rf^ 
of  the  power  of  the  Infinite,  and  do  not  require  ^oyyj/^ 
have  it  manifested  in  detail  or  in  finite  form  to  the    '-*'^'< 
same  extent  as  you  do./  People  on  the  earth-plane 
clamor  for  materialization;  they  are  not  conscious 
of  those  passed  over  unless  they  can  see  them  in 
some  form. 

We  here  do  not  often  "  see  "  Christ,  but  we  can 
feel  and  are  conscious  of  Him  all  the  time;  but  if 
you  ask  me  how  I  know  I  can't  tell  you. 

•  •«*•• 

Ether  is  one  of  the  manifestations  of  the  "  Life- 
force"  it  is  difficult  for  me  to  explain;  it  spreads 
through  it  like  moisture  in  the  air.  Ether  is  not  a 
"  power  "  like  electricity,  which  we  make  from  the 
embryo.  Ether  is  not  a  force  in  that  way  at  all. 
It's  a  state  or  condition  that  pervades  the  Universe, 
changing  in  degree  or  character  as  you  get  farther 
f ropi  the  earth-plane.  ) 

V  Interpenetrating  everything  on  Earth,  all  the 
Spheres,  all  the  Universe,  all  Space,  is  a  tremendous 
power  which  is  God,  or  what  (to  simplify  it)  we 


72  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

call  God-force.     By  this  God-force  all  things  live. 
Its  withdrawing  means  death,  I 


'*"'-/orce 


PHYSICAL  LIMITATIONS 

\^We  on  earth  with  finite  minds  often  visualize  or 
think  of  God  in  a  finite  shape  or  form,  as  a  man,  be- 
cause to  us  that  is  the  highest  experience  of  life 
manifest.  You  can  imagine  that  is  limiting  God. 
We  are  apt  to  do  this  with  all  things  beyond  our 
physical  sphere. 

I  told  you  we  have  atmosphere  here.  Just  as  we 
visualize  God,  and  yet  we  know  He  is  more  than  we 
can  visualize,  so  much  finer  and  greater,  so  is  the 
atmosphere  of  the  spirit-sphere  to  the  atmosphere  of 
the  earth-plane ;  you  cannot  visualize  it  with  a  finite 
mind.J 

VMjrod  is  not  known  to  science,  because  science  can't 
measure  or  classify  Him.  But  that  does  not  show 
there  is  no  God.  It  is  the  same  with  many  things  in 
the  spirit-world. 

Any  time  within  the  next  thousand  years  the 
"  lighter  and  more  refined  "  kind  of  hydrogen  I  told 
you  about  may  be  known  to  science,  but  it  will  not 
be  known  by  any  name  we  have  given  it  here ;  it  will 
be  named  and  classified  by  man  when  he  discovers 

73 


74  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

it.  I  called  it  a  "  kind  of  hydrogen  "  because  that  is, 
it  seems  to  me,  the  nearest  approach  to  it  on  the 
earth-plane,  and  I  must  call  it  something  that  will 
present  an  idea  to  your  mind  that  you  can  "  grasp." 
It  is  a  definite  thing. 

We  don't  name  the  particles  or  items  of  the  great 
universal  force  or  power  that  permeates  and  is  the 
being  of  everything.  It  is  only  when  it  filters 
through  to  the  earth-plane  that  you  divide  it  and  dis- 
cover different  parts  and  name  them. 

I  know  these  things  definitely;  they  are  not  my 
ideas,  or  "  impressions,"  for  I  am  taught  them  by 
teachers  and  guides  from  the  higher  spheres.  A 
great  many  others  here  have  been  taught  these 
things  too,  but  they  do  not  get  the  opportunity  to 
get  them  through  to  friends  on  earth. 

Of  course,  not  every  one  who  comes  over  here 
learns  these  things,  as  some  are  more  interested  and 
pass  their  time  in  other  ways. 

Suppose  a  spirit  here,  a  few  hundred  years  ago, 
had  tried  to  explain  "  electricity  "  or  "  radium  "  to 
a  medium  on  earth,  how  would  he  have  done  it? 
mI  suppose  incidentally  the  medium  would  have 
been  burnt  as  a  witch,  or  a  wizard,  and  that  would 
have  settled  the  matter  for  the  time  being !)  You  can 
imagine  he  would  have  been  unable  to  express  his 


PHYSICAL  LIMITATIONS  75 

ideas  clearly.  We  are  still  in  the  same  predicament,*^ 
( There  are  stages  in  man's  development :  the  phy- 
sical, in  which  he  feels  and  senses  on  the  physical 
plane;  the  mental,  which  is  the  scientific;  and  the 
spiritual,  which  is  above  them  both,  because  it's 
nearer  God.  There  are  no  very  easy  stages  from 
the  physical  to  the  spirit-world;  you  have  to  get 
right  out  of  one,  to  be  of,  and  in,  the  other. 

Man  is  a  student  in  God's  school,  namely,  the 
earth-plane,  and  has  to  find  out  these  things  by  hard 
work  and  study. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us  here  to  know  how  many 
"  drams,"  or  "  ounces,"  of  any  substance  make  any 
other  substance;  it  would  not  help  us  at  all.  You 
might  say,  "  Yes,  but  it  would  help  us ;  we  want  to 
know."  Your  earth-plane  is  the  school,  and  when 
the  headmaster  has  set  the  student  a  problem  in 
Euclid  he  does  not  supply  the  answer  before  the 
pupil  has  worked  it  out. 

▼  We  don't  learn  things  here  in  terms  that  you 
understand;  we  learn  spiritual  things,  which  are 
necessary  to  us,  for  we  are  of  the  spirit- world,  and 
to  find  out  things  in  your  world  we  have  to  work 
in  your  conditions. 

Communication  with  me  is  so  easy  to  you,  I  don't, 
think  you  realize  the  "  great  gulf  "  that  divides  us.  ^ 


MAN'S  CONNECTION  WITH  GOD 

^  The  peace  of  your  heart,  in  spite  of  great  anxiety, 
comes  from  the  innate  knowledge  that,  however 
bad  things  may  seem  sometimes,  "  God's  in  His 
heaven :  all's  right  with  the  world." 

The  mind  of  God  is  operating  through  the  various 
spheres  on  to  the  earth-plane.  It  is  almost  as  if  a 
picture  were  thrown  from  a  lantern  first  on  to  the 
seventh  sphere;  God  projects  his  thoughts  on  to 
it,  and  those  there  get  every  thought,  wish,  desire, 
of  God.  It  is  as  clear  to  them  as  if  it  were  photo- 
graphed on  the  atmosphere  round  them,  so  wherever 
they  turn  they  know  what  God  wants  them  to  do. 
These  "  pictures  "  or  thoughts  of  God  seem  to  be 
composed  of  millions  of  "  rays "  (even  in  your 
atmosphere  there  are  "  rays  "  of  which  you  are  not 
cognizant  on  earth).  On  the  sixth  sphere  the  pic- 
ture is  like  a  copy  of  the  seventh,  not  quite  so  sharp 
in  outline  or  detail,  and  so  on,  slightly  decreasing  in 
clarity  and  sharpness  from  sphere  to  sphere,  till  it 
gets  to  the  first  sphere,  where  it  is  much  fainter,  be- 
cause so  close  to  the  earth-plane.  On  the  earth- 
plane  it  is  faint  indeed;  but  there,  man,  who  has 

76 


MAN'S  CONNECTION  WITH  GOD         77 

great  power  if  he  chooses  to  use  it,  could  reproduce 
that  picture  if  he  put  himself  in  the  right  mental 
and  spiritual  condition  to  do  so.  It  has  to  be  re- 
developed by  man's  attitude  towards  it.  That's 
what  I  mean  by  saying  we  can  interpret  God  if  we 
choose.  Man  is  given  the  power  to  see  God's  ways 
and  wishes  if  he  will  put  aside  his  lower  self  for  a 
little  while. 

The  guide  who  is  teaching  me  said  it  is  important 
for  people  to  develop  psychically  as  a  step  to  the 
higher  or  spiritual  side.  Before  people  can  become 
"  psychic  "  properly  they  must  develop  physically 
and  mentally  too. 

You  say,  "  Mediums  are  often  uneducated.'* 
Yes;  they  do  not  satisfy  in  consequence,  but  by 
their  mediumship  they  are  a  bit  better  than  they 
would  have  been  without  it.  Still,  I  am  not  saying 
what  is  possible,  but  what  is  best. 

People  must  learn  to  control  the  physical,  the 
lower,  or  what  is  called  "  animal "  part  of  them, 
and  not  give  way  to  temper,  greed,  sensuality,  jeal- 
ousy, and  so  forth;  they  must  cultivate  the  spirit, 
the  higher  or  God  part,  the  **  higher  self." 

Sometimes  the  spirit  wants  to  operate  through 
the  body  (this  is  psychic  or  spiritual  development), 
and  is  prevented  by  people  giving  way  to  any  of  the 


78  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

passions  we  have  mentioned.  It  shows  they  must 
work  harder  to  get  control  of  the  physical. 

I  have  told  you  before,  your  spirit  even  now 
knows  and  can  see  everything;  it  is  seeing  me  at 
present.  Your  spirit-mind  is  the  subconscious 
mind ;  your  spirit-mind  can't  put  itself  in  touch  with 
the  physical  mind,  it  cannot  link  up  with  your  brain. 
It  is  unable  to,  because  you  can't  concentrate  on  me ; 
your  brain  is  concentrating  on  what  you  are  doing, 
not  on  seeing  me. 

Your  conscious  mind  is  operating  through  your 
brain.  To  be  "  developed  "  means  you  have  gained 
such  control  over  your  body  and  brain  that  you  are 
able  to  detach  yourself  from  undesirable  things  and 
thoughts.  It  is  this  power  a  person  sits  to  try  and 
develop  by  quiet,  concentration,  and  prayer.  You 
see  how  necessary  it  is  to  get  complete  control,  so 
as  to  command  the  nature  of  the  thoughts,  to  be 
able  to  lift  the  "  lower  self  "  to  meet  the  higher. 

You  could  not  do  it  always,  of  course,  for  you 
have  to  use  the  physical  brain  for  material  things, 
and  to  protect  the  physical  body  from  enemies.  For 
instance,  if  you  saw  a  man  coming  for  you  to  hit 
you  with  a  brick,  it  would  be  no  use  to  stop  to  think 
beautiful  thoughts;  you  would  have  to  do  some- 
thing, and  pretty  quickly!/ 


MAN'S  CONNECTION  WITH  GOD         79 

yBy  a  few  moments'  conscious  practice  every  day, 
people  can  raise  themselves  so  as  to  learn  to  "  link 
on  "  or  connect  their  minds  and  spirits,  the  lower 
and  higher  selves.  The  more  and  the  oftener  they 
do  it  the  easier  it  becomes,  so  that  in  a  little  time 
there  is  a  kind  of  semi-consciousness  of  that  beauti- 
ful state  helping  them  always. 

The  power  you  get  by  this  "  linking  on  "  to  the 
higher  self  has  a  great  effect,  not  only  on  your  own 
physical  or  lower  self  but  on  other  people's  too; 
that  shows  that  if  the  majority  could  believe  and 
practise  this,  there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  war 
or  enmity  on  the  earth-plane.  It  creates  almost  a 
tangible  state  or  feeling. 

It  is  the  power  given  by  the  continual  drawing 
down  into  the  physical  organism  of  the  bit  of  the 
Infinite  that  is  in  themselves,  and  because  it  is  In- 
finite it  has  infinite  power,  much  greater  than  phy- 
sical power;  it  is  personality  or  temperament. 

God  is  an  impersonal  personality.  He  is  a  per- 
sonality of  good,  the  personification  of  it,  but  im- 
personally good.  "  Why  call  Him  personal  at  all  ?  " 
I  call  God  that  because  He  sends  out  certain  forces 
or  power,  but  He  expects  them  to  return  (as,  for 
instance,  all  He  sends  to  inhabit  physical  bodies). 
Suppose  we  think  of  people  as  little  ships  sent  out 


8o  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

on  the  sea  of  life  by  God  from  His  Harbor.  His 
thought  goes  to  each  one,  "  May  you  return  to 
Me,"  and  the  little  ship  goes  out. 
(  When  it  has  been  out  for  some  years  it  may  make 
for  other  ports,  evil  ports,  and  stay  away  till  it 
becomes  battered  and  its  white  sails  get  grimy ;  and 
then  perhaps  it  says,  "  I  won't  go  any  more  to  any 
chance  harbor,  but  will  try  and  steer  for  my  home 
port."  Every  ship  launched  from  His  Harbor 
God  hopes  will  return.  There  is  a  sort  of  feeble 
interpretation  of  God's  thought  in  the  saying,  "  We 
shall  go  hence  in  God's  good  time." 

H  the  ships  stayed  in  sight  of  it,  they  could  easily 
return,  but  they  get  independent  and  think  they  will 
do  better  for  themselves  by  going  afar  off ;  and  the 
farther  they  go  the  more  thoroughly  they  forget 
the  Harbor  from  which  they  started. 
^  Again,  to  speak  of  the  God-force  and  try  to  ex- 
plain more  about  it.  It's  a  mind  that  permeates 
everything.  Next  to  being  a  mind  it's  an  organism 
of  forces — all  the  forces  or  energy  or  power  ever 
known  or  to  be  known.  God's  mind  controls  every- 
thing— all  the  forces  in  the  Universe.! 


MAN'S  BEGINNING 

^I  WILL  try  and  explain  as  clearly  as  I  can  about 
man  from  his  "  beginning,"  and  I  am  going  to  tell 
you  the  truth  as  far  as  I  know  and  can  express  it, 
but  I  leave  it  to  you  to  put  only  what  you  think 
suitable  in  the  book,  for  I  tell  you  everything,  know- 
ing there  is  nothing  that  God  has  made  nor  any 
operation  of  His  laws  we  need  be  ashamed  of; 
and  you  understand  and  realize  this  also,  but  there 
are  people  who  do  not  see  things  as  we  do,  and 
might  be  "shocked!"  My  feeling  is  of  awe  and 
reverence  now  I  have  learned  how  really  "  fearfully 
and  wonderfully  "  we  are  made,  and  I  marvel  all 
the  more  at  the  greatness  of  God. 

The  physical  of  us  is  created  on  the  earth-plane. 
The  mental  is  born  of  the  union  of  the  spirit  and 
the  body  of  each  one  of  us,  because,  till  the  spirit 
enters  and  controls  the  body,  there  is  no  life  in  it. 
The  baby's  spirit  is  not  contained  inside  its  body 
in  its  pre-natal  condition,  but  is  connected  with  it 
by  the  silver  cord  (exactly  as  any  other  person's 
body  and  soul  are  when  the  latter  is  operating  inde- 
pendently, as  it  does  often  when  the  body  sleeps  or 

8i 


82  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

is  under  an  anaesthetic),  and  remains  outside  in  its 
mother's  aura.  When  any  woman  is  going  to  be 
a  mother,  the  orange  life-giving  ray  is  attracted  to 
her.  It  is  in  the  earth-atmosphere,  always  ready  to 
be  diverted.  Directly  this  ray  is  connected  with 
the  mother's  organism,  from  God  starts  a  little 
atom,  or  brilliant  drop,  trickling  down  the  "  ray." 
(I  am  speaking,  please  understand,  of  a  new  soul, 
not  a  reincarnated  one.)  It  is  like  a  drop  of  quick- 
silver. As  it  starts,  it  divides  into  two,  like  quick- 
silver can;  so  whenever  there  is  one  new  soul  born 
there  is  always  its  counterpart. 

The  drop  does  not  start  from  any  one  particular 
spot,  or  place,  or  part  of  God,  and  it  leaves  some- 
thing there — a  trail,  as  it  were — which  remains 
linked  up  still  in  the  God-element  and  still  connected 
to  the  little  drop,  like  a  very  long,  slender  twig 
connecting  a  leaf  to  a  branch — connected  always, 
however  low  a  man  may  fall,  for  severing  it  would 
mean  annihilation.  This  is  a  subtle  point.  The 
place  from  which  you  start,  and  to  which  you  re- 
main connected,  is  your  particular  "bit  of  God;" 
so  one  need  not  think  of  oneself  as  lost  in  God,  but 
as  having  one's  own  little  part  in  Him  that  belongs 
to  one  alone. 

As  I  told  you,  the  drop  just  as  it  starts  divides 


MAN'S  BEGINNING  83 

into  two.  One  part  goes  to  one  mother,  and  one 
to  another.  (Remember,  we  are  only  speaking  of 
new  souls  now.)  One  is  always  male,  and  the 
other  female.  As  the  drop  travels  slowly  to  earth 
it  gets  larger  and  larger,  and  it  begins  to  shape  out 
and  take  more  space.  By  the  time  it  reaches  the 
mother's  aura  it  is  almost  the  size  and  shape  of  a 
tiny,  weeny  baby,  and  so  remains  with  the  mother 
till  the  time  of  birth.  If  this  is  premature,  the 
spirit  is  jerked  or  drawn  rather  abruptly  into  it,  and 
so  does  not  get  control  of  the  little  body  as  well 
as  if  it  had  had  the  proper  time  to  do  it.  This 
partly  accounts  for  the  high  death-rate  under  these 
circumstances.  It's  not  only  physical  reasons,  but 
because  the  Life-force  has  not  a  strong  hold  of  the 
body.  As  the  child  is  born,  the  spirit  goes  into 
it.  The  spirit,  because  it  is  of  God,  has  a  conscious- 
ness of  its  own,  but  not  conscious  personality,  that 
has  to  be  developed.  It  will  be  developed  by  the 
spirit  operating  through  the  body.  Therefore,  by 
unison  of  soul  and  body,  we  have  mental  growth 
and  growth  of  personality.  1/ 

(God  does  not  work  separately  for  each  individual. 
He  does  not  say,  for  instance,  "  That  nice  little 
woman,  Mrs.  Smith,  loves  children  and  longs  to 
have  one;  I  will  direct  a  life  'ray'  to  her."    No, 


84  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

the  world  is  full  of  this  "  Life-force,"  or  these  rays, 
and  they  automatically  act  in  suitable  environments. 
;  God  works  automatically  always  through  the 
regular  operation  of  His  laws.  I  will  give  you  a 
very  simple  everyday  illustration;  let  us  say  the 
"  Postmaster  General."  He  is  responsible  for  the 
general  direction  of  the  Post  Office,  but  he  does 
not  do  the  detail  work,  like  sorting  letters,  and  de- 
livering them,  but  he  has  certain  rules  for  the  same. 
Well,  God  is  the  "  Postmaster  General "  of  the 
Universe.  ^ 


THE    MADONNA   AND    A    LITTLE    EARTH- 
MOTHER 

•  Yes,  I  saw  all  the  lovely  mass  of  blue  and  white 
of  the  flowers  in  the  garden,  Mummy,  but  I  did 
not  try  to  impress  you  with  thoughts  of  the  Ma- 
donna; rather  I  seemed  to  catch  your  thoughts  of 
her.  The  colors  suggested  that  train  of  ideas,  be- 
cause they  are  associated  with  her  especially. 

Paul  says  he  considers  her  the  most  beautiful 
spirit  in  the  spirit-world,  and  I  don't  think  he  is 
far  wrong. 

She  is  so  kind  and  tender  to  all  the  young  men 
who  have  come  over  in  the  war,  always  ready  to 
talk  to  and  take  an  interest  in  them,  and  when  she 
looks  at  you,  you  feel  she  is  not  only  thinking  of 
you  but  of  your  mother. 

She  is  very  beautiful,  but  not  with  the  beauty  of 
a  woman  on  earth.  You  would  not  remark  any- 
thing especial  in  detail  about  her,  or  say,  "  Oh, 
what  lovely  hair ! "  or,  "  What  an  exquisite  com- 
plexion ! " 

She  is  the  ideal  Mother-woman,  and  has  all  the 
beautiful  expression  of  all  the  most  tender  mothers 

85 


86  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

of  the  world — pity,  love,  and  holiness.  She  is  in- 
deed "  the  Mother  of  Compassion." 

There  is  no  feeling  of  fear  or  even  of  awe  in 
connection  with  her,  but  you  feel  you  can  go  and 
talk  to  her  and  be  comforted  if  you  feel  lonely. 

Talking  of  mothers,  I  must  tell  you  of  a  little 
earth-mother  I  have  been  trying  to  help  lately.  She 
came  over  quite  unexpectedly  after  her  baby's  birth, 
and  her  grief  and  disappointment  were  very  great 
when  she  woke  to  life  here  and  found  she  had  left 
the  earth-plane,  her  young  husband,  and  the  baby. 

Her  relatives  over  here  are  all  elderly  people,  and 
she  refused  to  be  comforted  by  them.  She  said 
they  were  old,  and  it  was  natural  they  should  be 
content,  while  she  was  young,  and  resented  having 
her  earth-life  cut  abruptly  short  just  as  it  was  so 
full  of  new  and  wonderful  interests.  They  hap- 
pened to  know  me,  and  asked  me  to  see  and  try 
to  comfort  her,  for  I  am  about  her  age,  loved  my 
earth-life  equally,  and  yet  have  found  life  here  so 
full  of  happiness. 

I  went  to  her,  sat  down  beside  her  and  took  her 
hand,  and  felt  full  of  sympathy  and  understanding. 
(I  could  not  help  thinking  how  on  earth  I  should 
have  enjoyed  an  innocent  flirtation  with  a  pretty 
girl    like    this,    and    should    have    looked    at    her 


MADONNA  AND  EARTH-MOTHER       87 

with  a  world  of  "  sloppiness  "  in  my  eyes,  but  here 
I  have  quite  a  different  feeling.  I  might  have  been 
her  grandmother,  one  feels  so  impersonal.)  She 
talked  to  me  of  her  hopes  and  fears,  and  gave  me 
details  of  the  pain-racked  body  she  had  left  on 
earth,  which  would  have  been  quite  embarrassing 
there,  but  here  one  is  not  ashamed  of  natural  things. 
I  explained  to  her  as  far  as  I  could  the  psychic 
side  of  physical  things,  and  tried  to  show  her  that 
though  she  could  not  tend  her  baby's  little  mortal 
body  any  more, — some  other  woman  would  have 
to  do  that, — she  could  keep  watch  over  its  spirit, 
and  try  and  impress  it  with  right  and  beautiful 
things,  and  be  in  very  truth  its  guardian  angel. 

She  is  beginning  to  understand  and  to  become 
more  reconciled,  and  I  have  helped  several  others 
since  in  similar  circumstances.  Some  of  them  will 
probably  help  to  look  after  the  babies  here. 

I  often  go  to  the  colony  where  the  "  Red  In- 
dians "  live,  for  I  have  several  friends  among  them, 
and  I  love  their  jolly  little  brown  babies,  and  their 
horses  too! 

Yes,  people  here  live  in  "  sets  "  or  "  colonies," 
because  those  of  like  interests  and  nationalities 
gravitate  naturally  to  each  other,  and  to  their  own 
people.     Otherwise,  you  can  imagine  it  would  not 


88  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

be  very  happy  if  you  found  yourself  mixed  up  with 
people  of  every  nationality,  with  dissimilar  tastes 
and  experiences,  and  with  nothing  in  common  be- 
tween you,  for  the  fact  of  dying  does  not  change 
you  in  any  way.    ) 


THE  AURA 

•^The  aura  looks  like  a  kind  of  "halo"  (I  have 
no  doubt  the  painters  of  old,  inspired  for  their 
task,  may  have  seen  or  "  sensed  "  the  halo  round 
the  head  of  Christ,  for  of  course  it  would  have  been 
very  definite)  that  surrounds  and  outlines  not  only 
the  head  but  the  whole  body  of  every  living 
person. 

The  aura,  properly  speaking,  is  an  emanation 
from  a  body  to  which  spirit  is  still  allied;  it  inter- 
penetrates the  surface  of  the  body,  it  is  a  dissem- 
ination of  the  spirit  over  the  body. 

We  talk  of  the  spirit  as  being  in  a  body,  but  in 
speaking  of  it  are  hard  put  to  locate  it. 

The  aura  is  of  various  sizes  and  colors  and  parti- 
colors,  and  is  always  in  movement,  and  changes  in 
the  same  person  at  different  times,  for  it  is  affected 
by  emotion,  character,  and  health. 

Intellect  and  intelligence  determine  the  shape,  for 
there  is  a  fine  head  aura  round  any  one  who  is  well 
developed  mentally. 

Spirits  can  tell  by  looking  at  the  aura  if  a  person 
is  psychic;  that  is  how  they  know  a  medium,  and 

89 


90  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

come  to  them  when  they  want  to  communicate  with 
people  on  earth. 

I  think  the  aura  goes  to  make  up  the  spirit-body, 
for  when  the  physical  body  dies  there  is  no  aura. 
In  dying,  the  aura  gets  gradually  less  and  is  drawn 
inward  and  upward.  I  have  noticed  many  times 
(for  I  have  seen  many  men  die  on  the  battlefield) 
that  at  the  same  rate  at  which  the  aura  absorbs  into 
the  body  the  spirit  begins  coming  out  of  the  head. 

I  think  also  the  fact  that  it  is  possible  to  put 
all  the  aura  on  one  side  of  the  body  under  certain 
circumstances,  shows  it  is  soul.  If  it  were  only 
connected  with  the  physical  it  would  only  disappear 
as  the  body  grew  cold  at  death. 

The  soul,  too,  when  out  of  the  body  looks  like 
the  aura,  which  does  not  totally  disappear  till  the 
spirit  and  body  are  severed. 

At  a  materializing  seance  you  can  see  the  same 
substance  (as  the  aura)  coming  from  the  body  of 
the  medium,  meanwhile  the  aura  greatly  reduces. 

The  physical  "  door  "  of  the  spirit,  which  it  uses 
to  enter  and  leave  the  body  while  it  sleeps,  is  below 
the  ribs  in  front,  pretty  nearly  the  centre  of  the 
body;  at  death,  when  it  leaves  for  good,  it  comes 
out  of  the  head. 

When  the  spirit  is  going  to  travel,  the  aura  ap- 


THE  AURA  91 

parently  sinks  into  the  body  en  masse^  and  a  strong 
column  of  "  spirit-matter  "  comes  from  the  door  I 
have  just  spoken  of.  It  "  builds  up  "  or  shapes  into 
the  spirit-body,  and  is  connected  with  the  physical 
one  by  a  cord.  In  the  case  of  a  spiritually  and 
mentally  developed  person  the  spirit  can  travel  a 
long  way,  for  the  cord  would  be  more  pliable  and 
elastic  than  in  the  case  of  anyone  who  was  not  de- 
veloped in  these  respects. 

Though  you  don't  know  it,  it  is  through  a  per- 
son's aura  you  "  sense  "  them.  It  is  a  sure  indica- 
tion of  character,  and  the  colors  which  indicate 
characteristics  are  the  same  as  I  mentioned  before 
in  another  connection:  blue  and  violet  (certain 
shades)  for  spirituality,  yellow  and  orange  intel- 
lectuality, pink  indicates  an  affectionate  nature,  an 
apple-green  a  well-balanced  mentality. 

'(The  undesirable  colors  are  certain  shades  of 
grey  and  brown,  murky  reds,  and  greens,  which 
indicate  sensuality,  jealousy,  and  other  unpleasant 
traitsj 
'^Of  course  there  are  tremendous  varieties  in 
"  auras  "  (they  are  naturally  as  varied  as  the  people 
in  the  world),  in  shades  of  color,  in  combinations 
of  colors,  shapes,  and  size^;  also  in  some  people 
they  are  clear  and  well  defined,  while  in  others  they 


92  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

are  uneven,  almost  "  sagging,"  or  "  lumpy-looking,'* 
or  misty. 

When  any  organ  of  the  physical  body  is  out  of 
order  or  diseased,  the  aura  in  that  spot  dwindles 
for  the  time  being;  for  this  reason  a  clairvoyant 
can  sometimes  locate  illness,  j 


ASTRALS  AND  THOUGHT-FORMS  "^^"^       ^ 

/ 

(You  want  to  know  the  difference  between  "  Ast- 

rals "  and   "Thought-Forms?"     They  are  quite 

different  and  by  no  means  interchangeable  terms, 

though  people  often  speak  as  if  they  were,  for  the 

latter  is  only  a  "  picture  "  and  not  a  "  spirit "  at 

all. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  "Astrals"  (so  called 
because  they  are  functioning  on  the  "  Astral " 
plane).  First,  there  are  the  spirits  existing  there 
in  their  Astral  bodies,  which  are  made  out  of  actual 
atoms.  The  Astral,  though  fine  in  comparison 
with  the  physical  body,  is  still  coarse  (for  it  is 
only  undeveloped  people  who  are  not  spiritually 
evolved  who  live  on  that  sphere).  There  is  a  great 
difference  between  it  and  the  bodies  of  those  on  the 
third  sphere. 

There  is  no  "  death  "  after  you  leave  earth,  but 
this  further  difference  in  degree  makes  people  think 
sometimes  one  has  to  undergo  that  ordeal  again  on 
going  higher  through  the  different  planes.  This 
is  not  so,  though  a  great  change  certainly  does  take 
place  in  the  "  astral  body ; "  the  chemical  condition 

93 


94  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

alters,  it  becomes  refined,  but  it  is  no  greater  than 
that  which  takes  place  in  your  earth-body  continu- 
ally, all  the  cells  of  which  change  and  renew  several 
times  in  the  course  of  your  life  there,  though  you 
are  not  conscious  of  it  in  either  case. 

When  a  man  in  the  Astral  changes  mentally,  his 
body  changes  too  in  sympathy  with  his  development, 
and  in  corresponding  degree,  but  more  quickly  than 
with  you. 

If  a  man  longs  to  progress  very  fast,  and  makes 
up  his  mind  and  concentrates  on  it,  he  can  change 
in  a  very  short  time;  but  if  he  makes  no  special 
effort,  and  progresses  slowly  mentally,  his  body 
changes  slowly  too.  This  gradual  refinement  con- 
tinues through  the  spheres;  the  change  comes  from 
within. 

The  second  kind  of  Astral  is  a  spirit  connected 
with  a  physical  body,  and  functioning  temporarily 
only  on  the  Astral  plane,  while  its  earth-body 
sleeps  or  is  unconscious.  It  looks  much  the  same 
as  the  other,  but  its  body  is  actually  diflferent,  for 
it  has  an  astral  "  husk  "  only,  much  on  the  same 
principle  as  the  temporary  body  made  for  a  mater- 
ializing spirit  at  a  seance,  and  like  that  composed 
of  astral  atoms  consolidated. 

These  astral  atoms  collect  round  the  aura  of  a 


ASTRALS  AND  THOUGHT-FORMS         95 

developed  man,  and  on  his  soul  emerging  (as  I 
have  already  described  to  you)  from  the  centre  of 
his  body,  these  atoms  close  round  his  spirit  and 
form  a  "  husk "  or  covering  to  protect  it  in  its 
travels. 

He  could  not  function  in  his  real  "  astral  "  body, 
for  that  is  not  complete;  it  is  not  complete  for  a 
curious  reason.  It  is  this :  that  a  certain  amount  of 
the  material  that  makes  his  astral  body  is  not  avail- 
able while  he  is  connected  with  his  physical  body, 
for  it  goes  to  make  the  vital  cord  or  connection  be- 
tween his  travelling  spirit  and  his  stationary  body, 
which  is  only  severed  at  death  (for  the  severing 
means  death). 

After  this  has  occurred,  of  course,  no  cord  being, 
then  required,  this  material  is  available  for  his 
astral  body,  and  so  he  no  longer  requires  to  borrow 
astral  atoms  to  protect  himself;  his  spirit  is  suf- 
ficiently clothed,  being  complete. 

As  I  am  not  in  the  Astral  I  find  it  difficult  to  tell 
if  a  person  is  in  their  permanent  astral  body  or  not. 

This  accounts  too  for  the  difficulty  a  clairvoyant 
sometimes  has  in  being  able  to  say  if  a  person  is  in 
or  out  of  their  physical  body  permanently.  They 
too  are,  it  must  be  remembered,  seeing  in  other 
conditions  than  their  normal.    Sight  varies  enough 


96  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

even  on  the  earth-plane;  no  two  men  there  see  ex- 
actly alike. 

If  you  took  a  collection  of  people  to  a  hilltop  and 
asked  them  to  describe  the  view  without  artificial 
aid,  they  would  all  see  in  different  degrees:  some 
only  things  near,  others  only  things  distant,  some 
as  it  were  through  a  haze,  and  others  clearly.  This 
is  why  normal  clairvoyance  is  often  incorrect — 
things  are  difficult  to  see  in  the  right  perspective; 
and  it  varies  too  according  to  the  bias  of  the  me- 
dium's brain  on  which  it  is  registered  by  the  sight. 

A  "  Thought-Form "  is  a  picture,  a  thought- 
photograph,  projected  through  the  atmosphere  by 
some  one,  but  the  recipient  would  have  to  mentally 
"  develop "  it,  as  it  were,  in  order  to  see  it ;  by 
that  I  mean  they  would  have  to  be  thinking  of  the 
sender  at  the  right  moment,  and  in  the  right  way. 
Space  is  nothing,  for  it  takes  no  longer  to  think 
four  or  five  hundred  miles  than  into  the  next  room. 
So  if  you  are  in  the  right  mental  condition  you  can 
see  a  thought- form ;  it's  only  a  picture  in  the  atmos- 
phere. 

This  explains  certain  things ;  for  instance,  visions 
of  Christ  to  the  dying.  Hundreds  on  the  battle- 
fields may  see  Him  individually  and  spontaneously. 
If  He  is  projecting  His  thought  to  all  who  are  lying 


ASTRALS  AND  THOUGHT-FORMS         97 

there,  all  who  are  attuned  in  mind  can  and  may 
be  able  to  see  Him.  Just  as  when  a  ship  at  sea 
sends  out  a  wireless  message  or  a  call  for  help,  it 
is  not  confined  to  one  receiver,  but  is  open  to  all 
ships  and  receiving  stations  which  are  suitably  at- 
tuned. So  all  who  are  suitably  attuned  and  har- 
monized can  receive  thought  pictures,  impressions, 
and  inspiration.  This  explains  also  how  various 
people  in  widely  separated  places  may  simulta- 
neously be  "  inspired  "  by  one  individual.  "  In- 
spired "  I  said,  not  "  controlled  "  remember.  Mum ; 
that  is  a  very  different  matter  (people  should  al- 
ways use  common  sense  in  judging  what  they  are 
told).  Personally,  I  don't  believe  spirits  from 
the  higher  spheres  ever  "  control "  people  on  earth. 
It  is  hard  enough  for  us  who  are  only  on  the  third 
sphere  to  get  back  into  the  old  conditions,  for  those 
it  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  and  a  deliberate 
waste;  it  would  be  like  engaging  a  tutor  of  the 
highest  scholastic  attainments  to  teach  an  infant  its 
ABC! 

Now  a^  regards  a  so-called  "  ghost "  haunting 
a  particular  spot.  If  it  is  a  persistent  haunt  that 
has  continued  for  many  years,  even  for  centuries, 
it  is  almost  certainly  a  thought-form  and  not  a 
spirit;  for  it  is  very  unlikely  that  any  spirit  would 


98  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

be  so  unfriended  as  to  be  permitted  to  go  on  in  this 
aimless  and  unhappy  manner  indefinitely,  for  as 
soon  as  any  one  desires  help  here  it  is  forthcoming. 

What  happens  is  this.  Certain  events  (probably 
tragic),  which  are  felt  very  intensely  by  the  parti- 
cipators at  the  time,  leave  a  very  clear-cut  and  well- 
defined  picture  in  the  atmosphere,  and  at  first  for 
a  short  time  the  actors  in  the  scene  may  return  in 
spirit  to  the  spot,  and  by  thinking  over  what  hap- 
pened revivify  and  intensify  that  thought  picture. 

Ordinary  people  then  come  to  that  place  knowing 
its  history,  and  some  may  see  the  "  ghost,"  and  they 
see  it  because  they  are  psychic  and  unconsciously 
psychometrize  the  atmosphere,  and  so  mentally  de- 
velop the  picture  that  is  there,  and  so  constantly 
renew  the  image,  which  thus  becomes  almost  per- 
manent. Yes,  I  know  it  does  seem  difficult  to  re- 
alize, but  it  also  applies  to  **  feeling "  as  well  as 
"seeing"  past  conditions;  thus  a  medium  feels 
pain  and  discomfort  when  describing  the  illness  of 
any  one.  The  medium  is  psychometrizing  the  con- 
dition connected  with  the  spirit  while  it  was  a 
body,  and  not  the  spirit  itself. 

I  say  this  because  I  have  been  told  and  have 
noticed  myself  that  spirits  are  surprised  on  return- 
ing to  earth  to  hear  themselves  described  with  symp- 


ASTRALS  AND  THOUGHT-FORMS        99 

toms  of  disease  they  have  almost  forgotten  they  ever 
suffered.  For  instance,  your  father,  who  "  died  " 
over  thirty-five  years  ago,  here  is  in  perfect  health, 
yet  whenever  he  returns  to  earth  the  mediums  de- 
scribe him  as  having  a  cough,  and  discomfort  in 
his  chest;  that  was  true  when  he  passed  over  (he 
died  of  pneumonia),  but  of  course  is  totally  unlike 
his  present  condition. 

Another  man  I  know,  who  had  some  very  pain- 
ful disease  which  affected  one  leg,  tells  me  he  gets 
quite  angry  when  he  hears  it  described  now,  as  he 
no  longer  feels  it  at  all  even  when  he  returns  to 
earth-conditions,  and  yet  the  mediums  describe  it 
most  accurately,  and  one  might  imagine  he  was 
still  in  suffering  instead  of  in  perfect  health ! 


RELIGION  AND  SCIENCE,  THOUGHT,  AND 
THOUGHTS 


It  is  curious  that  modem  investigations  have  rec- 
onciled Religion  and  Science,  for  there  was  a  time 
when  religious  teachers  feared  the  revelations  of 
scientists;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  these  taught  better 
than  they  knew,  for  further  knowledge  has  strength- 
ened faith  and  not  undermined  it.  Truth  will  al- 
ways bear  the  light. 

Many  in  the  past  who  disbelieved  Bible  state- 
ments now  realize  it  was  possible  for  these  seem- 
ing "  miracles  "  to  have  really  happened. 

They  know  that  the  appearance  of  Christ  after 
His  resurrection,  in  a  locked  and  barred  upper  room, 
was  a  possible  fact,  for  He  was  in  His  "  Spirit- 
body,"  and  thousands  of  men  revisit  the  earth  in 
this  way  daily  now,  though  only  those  who  are 
psychically  developed  can  see  them. 

It  is  possible  for  "  spirit-bodies  "  to  go  through 
apparently  solid  substances,  just  as  sunlight  goes 
through  glass,  or  heat  through  metal,  for  as  a 
matter  of  fact  no  atoms  of  matter  are  actually 
touching,  however  solid  they  may  appear  to  be. 

100 


HELIGION,  SCIENCE,  AND  THOUGHTS      loi 

*^Man  is  a  triune  being,  and  consists  of  body, 
soul,  and  spirit,  though  in  the  world  we  live  as 
if  we  consisted  of  a  material  body  only  (with 
a  small  spirit  tucked  away  somewhere  as  a  kind  of 
after-thought).  Through  his  ill-balanced  develop- 
ment man  does  not  half  realize  his  own  possi- 
bilities. 

I  want  to  impress  upon  you,  apropos  of  this,  the 
enormous  importance  of  thought;  if  men  only  re- 
alized and  cultivated  their  powers  in  this  direction 
they  might  do  wonderful  things. 

Thoughts  should  be  guarded  as  carefully  as 
deeds,  for  thought  is  actually  creative  and  im- 
presses an  image  on  the  surrounding  atmosphere 
of  which  a  permanent  record  remains.  Some  men 
are  haunted  when  they  come  over  here  by  what  they 
have  themselves  unwittingly  created. 

Of  course  on  earth  thought  is  creative  also,  for 
everything  has  there  to  be  planned  or  arranged  in 
some  one's  mind  before  it  is  made  by  hands  or 
machinery. 

In  the  spirit-world,  too,  we  can  speak  by  thought, 
by  telepathy;  that  is  how  we  overcome  the  diffi- 
culty of  different  languages.  This  does  not  mean 
that  I  have  no  privacy  of  thought,  and  that  my  mind 
is  open  for  all  to  read.    I  have  to  project  a  thought 


I02  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

when  I  want  to  communicate  it,  just  as  all  a  hyp- 
notist's thoughts  are  not  conveyed  to  his  patient, 
but  only  those  which  he  directly  impresses.  If  you 
could  get  people  "  attuned "  properly,  they  could 
even  think  music  at  each  other ! 

All  wrong  thought  goes  to  build  up  and 
strengthen  the  power  of  evil  (called  by  men  the 
devil).  In  the  beginning,  I  am  told,  it  was  almost 
negative;  man  increased  it  himself  by  inflicting 
pain,  by  cruelty,  by  lust  and  envy. 

There  is  great  spiritual  and  mental  "  unrest " 
among  men  now  and  has  been  for  some  time  past, 
however  undefined,  obscure,  and  misunderstood,  be- 
cause man  is  evolving  and  there  is  an  unconscious 
struggle  between  the  spiritual  and  animal  in  him. 
Chaos  and  disturbance  are  the  result. 

As  to  the  people  whose  "  faith "  you  say  is 
"  shaken  "  by  the  war,  all  I  can  say  is,  it's  not  much 
of  a  faith!  They  are  trying  to  limit  God  again;/ 
'He  does  not  work  for  one  country,  but  for  the  good 
of  all  mankind,  and  each  nation  will  learn  what  it 
requires  for  its  future  development.  It  would  be 
as  sensible  for  a  doctor  to  treat  one  symptom  of 
disease  in  the  body  only,  instead  of  strengthening 
and  cleansing  the  whole  of  it.  The  systems  of  the 
world  are  being  purified.    In  the  past  we  have  put 


RELIGION,  SCIENCE,  AND  THOUGHTS      103 

aside  or  trifled  with  things  that  now  must  be  faced 
in  earnest. 

The  earth-plane  is  God's  garden,  and  it  was  a 
beautiful  garden;  what  is  left  of  God  in  it  is  still 
beautiful,  but  it  is  now  full  of  weeds  of  evil,  disease, 
poverty,  and  selfishness. 

The  gardeners  are  beginning  to  realize  that  fur- 
ther trimming  is  of  no  use,  and  these  things  must 
be  uprooted  utterly.  In  the  past  so  many  enjoyed 
the  sunshine  and  fruit  and  flowers,  and  neglected 
the  weeds,  which  were  brushed  aside  and  hidden 
as  unlovely  and  troublesome  things;  they  have  now 
become  rampant,  and  only  drastic  measures  are 
any  use. 

I  know  sometimes  things  look  depressing,  but 
I  solemnly  promise  you  there  is  a  silver  lining  to 
this  dark  cloud.  Men  in  the  old  days  worked  for 
individual  progress;  in  future  the  ideal  will  be  to 
work  for  others,  for  the  good  of  the  whole  and  the 
improvement  of  the  community. 

I  am  told  the  sacrifices  of  this  war  have  not  been 
in  vain ;  that  a  purified  England  will  result.  There 
will  be  a  spiritual  revolution ;  people  will  try  to  face 
truth,  to  drop  some  of  the  shams  that  are  now  used 
to  veil  it.  Perhaps  present  events  do  seem  to  you 
like  a  "  dark  tunnel,"  but  I  see  the  sum  shining  at 


104  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

the  end  of  it,  and  I  know  there  has  never  been  a 
crisis  in  the  world's  history  which  has  held  so  much 
certainty  of  ultimate  good  arising  out  of  it. 

Nations  and  peoples,  like  individuals,  sooner  or 
later  reap  what  they  themselves  have  sown  of  good 
and  evil ;  and  knowing  this,  one  realizes  that  no  life, 
nor  the  life  of  any  nation,  is  a  succession  of  dis- 
connected events.  There  is  a  sequence  running 
through  them  all.  They  fit  into  each  other  like  the 
pieces  of  a  puzzle,  though  one  only  sees  it  clearly 
as  a  whole  when  life  on  earth  is  over  and  the  last 
piece  has  fitted  into  its  place.  /' 


II.—CLAUDE'S  LETTERS 

[A  Letter  written  when  Claude  was  in  the  ranks.] 

August  1914 
My  darling  Mother, — Hope  you  arrived  home 
safely  last  night.  On  my  way  back  after  leaving 
you  I  overtook  a  lance-corporal  in  the  Engineers 
coming  in  my  direction,  so  we  walked  along  to- 
gether. We  became  quite  "  pals."  He  took  me  into 
his  tent,  one  of  those  situated  below  the  gymnasium, 
and  showed  me  several  dodges  in  using  the  rifle. 
After  that  we  sat  and  yarned  till  just  before  ten, 
when  I  turned  in. 

The  daring  "  Sergeant-saucers  "  were  not  in  good 
form  last  night;  the  threat  of  having  up  the  offend- 
ers before  the  Major  appears  to  have  had  the  de- 
sired effect.  The  corporal  with  whom  I  was  yarn- 
ing had  three  brothers  in  the  Zulu  and  Boer  Wars, 
so  that  his  stories  were  extremely  interesting. 

Parade  this  morning  commenced  at  6.15  and 
breakfast  at  7.30.  At  the  9  o'clock  parade  about 
a  dozen  of  us  were  picked  out,  including  myself 

105 


io6  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

and   L ,   to    form   what   might    be   termed   a 

"  super-recruit "  squad,  as  we  are  more  advanced 
than  the  others.  We  are  to  be  rushed  on  and 
drafted  to  our  companies  this  week,  if  possible. 

The  selected  few  were  drilled  by  one  Sergeant 
K ,  the  humorous  character  with  the  crisp  re- 
partee.    During  the  lo  to  ii  interval,  L and 

I  sat  in  the  shade  of  the  canteen  with  Sergeants 

K and   B and  another   sergeant,   whose 

lack  of  military  knowledge  is  only  surpassed  by 
the  superabundance  of  flesh  round  his  "  Plimsoll 
line"! 

By  dint  of  a  half-pint  of  beer  all  round  and  a 
winning  smile,  I  soon  got  on  excellent  terms  with 
the  lot,  and  was  rewarded  with  some  shockingly 
humorous  anecdotes  from  Sergeant  K . 

In  the  Zulu  campaign  his  experiences  were  posi- 
tively side-splitting,  especially  as  he  sees  the  funny 
side  of  everything. 

The  story  of  one  of  his  friends,  who  was  shot 
on  his  bare  back  by  a  Zulu  whose  blunderbuss  was 
loaded  with  chopped-up  telephone  wires,  and  leaped 
into  the  trenches  with  a  yell,  with  his  back  bristling 
with  copper  spikes,  takes  a  lot  of  beating.  The 
cream  of  the  joke  was  that  the  miserable  victim 
had  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  military  career  in  ex- 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  107 

plaining  to  wilfully  incredulous  but  secretly  de- 
lighted inquirers  how  he  came  to  be  shot  in  the 
back  if  he  wasn't  running  away. 

Needless  to  say,  the  more  indignantly  he  denied 
the  soft  impeachment  the  more  sceptical  his  tor- 
mentors became! 

Scarcely  less  funny  are  his  experiences  when 
serving  with  the  British  Expedition  to  quell  the 
riots  in  Crete. 

I  nearly  put  my  foot  in  it  to-day.  After  12 
o'clock  I  went  to  read  the  paper  on  the  hill  over- 
looking the  sea  near  the  Fort  entrance,  and   fell 

asleep.    L left  me  to  go  to  dinner;  I  slumbered 

peacefully  on.  Our  next  parade  was  at  2,  but  at 
five  minutes  past  I  was  still  dreaming,  until  the 

breathless  L dashed  up  to  say  that  drill  had 

started  ten  minutes  before!  However,  Sergeant 
K ,  seeing  us  coming  in  the  dim  distance,  re- 
lapsed into  a  spasm  of  deep  thought,  with  his  back 
to  the  squad,  and  consequently  pretended  not  to 
notice  our  arrival.  But  /  nearly  had  a  "  spasm  '* 
over  it.  I  am  going  down  to  the  "  Ship  "  to-night 
and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  some  "  grub,"  as 
I've  had  nothing  for  dinner  but  sleep,  which  isn't 
very  filling,  I  have  fallen  on  hard  times:  I  have 
a  cold  in  my  right  eye,  a  pain  in  my  left  arm,  due 


io8  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

of  course  to  the  vaccination,  and  a  bit  of  a  headache, 
due  I  expect  to  the  same  cause. 

However,  I  am  getting  used  to  the  floor  of  the 
"  Jimmy-Nasum,"  as  I  heard  it  called  this  morn- 
ing.    I  will  write  again  soon. — Your  loving  son, 

Claude 

[The   following  Letters   were  written   from   the 

Front   after   Claude   joined   the   Royal   Flying 

Corps.] 

France 

My  darling  Mother^ — Thank  you  so  much  for 
your  letters  and  the  cakes.  I  believe,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  that  a  postal  transport  was  lost,  stolen,  or 
strayed  recently,  as  no  one  got  any  letters  for  a 
day  or  two. 

I  had  a  two-hour  trip  yesterday  on  wireless  work, 
over  Ypres  as  usual.  But  owing  to  a  clear  sky  and 
an  erratic  course,  "  Archie  "  didn't  risk  straining 
his  neck  over  us! 

After  tea  I  had  one  of  the  most  miraculous 
escapes  on  record  in  the  Flying  Corps.  It  hap- 
pened thuswise: — 

I  was  taking  up  an  F.E.,  our  largest  fight- 
ing pusher  biplane  in  the  Service,  for  the  first 
time. 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  109 

H being  very  anxious  to   accompany  me 

"  to  save  ballast,"  as  he  put  it,  came  too. 

Everything  went  well  getting  off,  and  I  was  be- 
ginning to  congratulate  myself  when  the  engine 
stopped  without  a  second's  warning. 

On  reviewing  the  situation  the  prospects  were 
hardly  promising.  We  were  60  feet  up,  and  over 
an  impermeable  square  of  fifty-foot  trees,  and  too 
low  to  turn,  not  to  mention  it  was  a  strange  ma- 
chine ! 

Rather  awkward,  wasn't  it?  However,  I  kept 
straight  on  for  the  trees  in  front,  gliding  as  flat 
as  I  dared,  hoping  to  clear  the  top  and  reach  a 
ploughed  field  beyond.    Nothing  doing! 

Note,  Providence  had  ordained  that  two  trees 
should  be  cut  down,  and  those  two  left  a  gap  the 
exact  width  of  my  machine,  though  it  looked 
smaller. 

Trying  to  get  over  them  I  got  too  flat,  and  losing 
flying-speed  stalled  the  machine. 

As  an  A.S.C.  mechanic  told  me  afterwards,  she 
got  through  that  gap  with  just  a  2-inch  clearance 
on  both  sides. 

No  sooner  had  she  passed,  than  down  went  her 
nose  almost  vertically  for  earth,  and  about  40  feet 
up!!! 


no  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  hold  the  stick 
hard  back  and  wait  for  her  to  pick  up  enough  speed 
to  answer  the  elevator. 

Rather  unpleasant  that  wait!  Thirteen  feet  off 
the  plough  she  started  pulling  up,  and  instead  of 
striking  the  ground  vertically,  she  struck  it  at  45°. 

By  all  the  laws  of  nature  she  ought  to  have 
turned  over  and  deposited  her  engine  through  yours 
truly  and  H ,  and  made  a  hole  in  the  ground. 

But  no ;  we  weren't  "  for  it "  this  time.  She 
struck  a  bit  sideways  at  50  miles  an  hour  and  45° 
down,   spun   round,   smashed   to  smithereens,   top 

to  bottom.    H and  I  got  out  without  a  scratch ! 

But,  facing  the  gap  in  the  trees,  how,  I  dunnol 

The  getting  out,  consisting  of  placing  one  foot 
straight  on  the  ground,  which  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  ordinarily  the  "Cock-pit"  is  11  feet  up  and 
has  to  be  reached  by  a  step  ladder,  is  no  mean 
S)nnnptom  of  the  condition  of  the  machine. 

We  both  got  out,  shook  hands  spontaneously, 
and  laughed. 

It  really  was  rather  funny. 

But  our  adventures  were  not  at  an  end.  Within 
three  minutes  of  crashing,  a  rapidly  increasing 
whistle  changed  to  a  moan  and  finished  up  with  a 
bang! 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  in 

On  first  thoughts,  I  thought  we  were  being 
shelled,  as  the  explosive  pitched  3CX)  yards  off, 
though  in  view  of  our  distance  from  the  lines  it 
was  highly  improbable. 

However,  a  more  distinct  and  regular  drone  be- 
trayed a  Hun  machine,  about  7CX)0  feet  up,  and  ap- 
parently vertically  above. 

The  advent  of  another  whistle,  precisely  like  the 
first,  made  the  crowd  that  had  collected  disperse 
with  considerably  greater  alacrity  than  one  is  ac- 
customed to  see  in  Belgian  peasantry. 

The  second  one  was  a  darned  good  shot  con- 
sidering his  height,  as  it  fell  within  200  yards  of 
us,  and  blew  a  hole  in  the  ground. 

He  then  went  on  his  way  rejoicing,  and  gave 
Abeele  another,  though  with  what  result  I  have  not 
hitherto  ascertained. 

I  have  secured  half  a  dozen  portions  of  his  second 
shot  at  us,  as  mementoes  of  the  occasion. 

The  local  damage  was  considerable;  seven  pota- 
toes were  irretrievably  damaged!  One  in  parti- 
cular was  riddled  with  shrapnel  and  quite  inedible. 

So  my  first  real  crash  has  been  a  good  one.  I 
have  taken  a  couple  of  "  snaps  "  of  it;  I  hope  they 
will  turn  out  satisfactory. 

r  have  also  got  the  canvas  off  my  Q.c.  tail,  with 


112  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

sundry  patches,  most  of  them  acquired  in  our  scrap 
over  Lille.  Think  we  shall  have  to  start  a  museum 
after  the  war. 

By  the  way,  it  was  lucky  I  did  not  fly  over,  as 
Captain  C flew  over  last  Friday,  the  day  be- 
fore I  came  out,  and  spent  half  an  hour  in  the 
Channel  with  a  dud  engine,  and  was  salved  by  a 
destroyer. 

Rather  nasty  if  there  had  been  two  of  us  on  board 
the  machine. 

Well,  it's  about  time  I  did  some  work — ii  a.m. 
I  must  go  and  test  my  Q.c.  if  it  has  been  finished. 

Good-by  for  the  present.  Tons  of  love  to  all. — 
Your  loving  son,  Claude 

France 

My  darling  Mother, — Another  "  dud  "  day, 
but  by  no  means  a  wasted  one. 

After  breakfast,  four  of  us  started  off  on  foot 
for  a  trudge  to  the  trenches,  though  we  got  a  lift 
right  up  to  Ypres. 

The  town  is  in  a  most  extraordinary  state,  just 
as  though  a  stupendous  earthquake  had  paid  it  a 
visit;  and  is  so  deserted  that  it  is  veritably  a  city 
of  the  dead. 

The  remains  of  the  far-famed  Cloth  Hall  and 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  113 

Cathedral  have  still  traces  of  their  old  beauty,  with 
here  and  there  traces  of  frescoes  and  carvings. 

The  cemetery  has  been  shelled  beyond  recogni- 
tion, and  the  gasometer  is  by  no  means  gas-tight. 

We  went  southwards  by  the  Lille  gate  and  visited 

a  battery  dug-out  near  X ,  where  we  refreshed 

the  inner  man. 

Thence  we  entered  the  first  communicating 
trench,  quite  half  a  mile  long,  and  worked  up  into 
the  reserve  trenches  towards  "  Sanctuary  Wood  " 
and  "  Maple  Copse." 

Most  extraordinary  the  way  the  trenches  run, 
each  with  its  name  on  a  post  at  the  ends. 

"Lover's  Walk,"  "Bond  Street,"  "Suicide 
Corner  "  were  a  few  I  noticed  in  passing. 

The  ground  around  was  a  mass  of  shell-holes, 
graves,  and  fallen  trees. 

The  air  was  none  too  pure  either,  as  the  recent 
attacks  have  kept  the  men  too  busy  to  dispose  of 
all  the  poor  devils  who  were  knocked  out. 

In  the  wood  itself,  one  can  walk  about  in  com- 
parative safety,  though  70  or  80  per  cent,  of  the 
trees  have  been  lopped  off  at  the  base  by  passing 
shells. 

The  German  trench-mortars  were  pretty  active 
and  making  lots  of  noise,  whilst  every  now  and 


114  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

then,  about  seven  or  eight  times  a  minute,  one 
could  hear  the  crack  of  a  rifle,  as  one  or  other  of 
our  snipers  spotted  a  target,  and  quite  as  frequently 
a  "  ziph,"  "  ziph,"  as  the  Germans  did  the  same,  and 
the  bullets  came  over  the  trench  we  were  in. 

They  make  a  noise  almost  like  a  sigh,  but  are  not 
nearly  so  unpleasant  to  my  mind  as  the  shells  one 
can  hear  coming  for  ten  or  fifteen  seconds  with  a 
noise  like  a  heavy  goods  train,  finishing  up  with  a 
crash  that  makes  one  jump  like  a  shot  rabbit. 

Eventually  we  found  ourselves  in  the  front-line 
trenches  and  within  twenty  yards  of  the  Germans. 

Looking  through  a  periscope  they  only  appeared 
about  five,  with  stacks  of  barbed  wire  and  men  who 
had  fallen  in  the  last  attack  in  between. 

Indeed,  in  some  places,  where  a  trench  had  been 
only  partially  taken  or  lost  by  one  side  or  the  other, 
they  were  actually  in  the  same  trench,  with  a  dozen 
or  so  coils  of  barbed  wire  as  a  partition — five  yards 
distance  between  their  barricade  and  ours. 

Coming  away  they  sniped  at  us,  but  with  no 
success,  and  we  got  within  twenty  yards  of  one 
of  our  machines  brought  down  last  month,  and 

within  thirty  of  the  remains  of  the  one  H 

strafed  on  one  of  his  many  duels. 

Three  o'clock  found  us  on  our  way  back,  and 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  115 

within  an  hour  we  were  having  tea  in  an  Artillery 
dug-out. 

Thence  we  skirted  Ypres,  and  by  walking  along 
the  remains  of  the  railway  line  struck  the  main 
road  homeward  bound. 

Walking  along  the  line  we  were  surprised  to  hear 
a  hidden  voice  yelling  at  us  to  "  clear  out,"  which 
we  didn't  take  long  to  do,  as  I  spotted  the  muzzle  of 
a  6-inch  gun  within  20  feet  of  us  loaded  and  cocked 
and  pointing  our  way,  but  it  was  so  well  hidden 
that  we  hadn't  noticed  it  till  the  gunner  yelled  out. 

Anyway,  it  went  off  within  thirty  seconds  with 
a  pretty  resounding  bang ! 

That's  one  of  the  beauties  of  life  out  here,  you 
never  know  what's  going  to  happen  next. 

In  passing  all  that  is  left  of  Ypres  Station  we 
gave  a  peep  in  at  the  running-sheds. 

One  of  the  only  two  engines  inside  was  a  rickety 
and  prehistoric  old  pram,  and  the  other  had  had  its 
chimney  taken  off  as  clean  as  a  whistle  by  the 
shell  that  had  plonked  a  neat  hole  in  the  wall,  and 
was  too  knocked  about  to  ever  be  serviceable  again. 

Fifty  yards  down  the  line  was  another  loco,  with 
a  shell-hole  plonk  through  the  boiler,  with  tubes 
sticking  out  all  over  like  a  hedgehog. 

Another  hundred  yards  and  there  were  the  two 


ii6  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

largest  shell-holes   I've  ever  seen,   and  there  are 
some  sizey  ones  in  Ypres! 

Two  pits  about  25  feet  deep  and  the  bottom  full 
of  water  with  a  circumference  of  at  least  30  feet ! 

When  one  sees  that  the  edges  of  the  holes  are 
about  10  feet  apart  and  the  "  Jack  Johnsons  "  can- 
not have  been  fired  at  a  range  of  less  than  15  miles, 
one  cannot  but  respect  the  German  Artillery. 

Besides,  they  were  both  beautifully  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  station  sidings,  with  rails  lying  about 
torn  and  twisted  like  so  much  cotton. 

The  town  walls  show  innumerable  scars  in  every 
direction,  and  the  whole  presents  a  picture  one  can 
never  forget. 

The  trenches  we  had  visited  were  at  the  very 
apex  of  the  Ypres  salient,  surrounded  by  Teutons 
on  three  sides,  though  the  Highlanders  who  were 
in  them  were  as  cheery  as  larks. 

A  few  hunks  of  shell  accompanied  me  home  as 
souvenirs.  Time  I  knocked  off  now ;  post  orderly's 
just  going.    Love  to  all. — ^Your  loving  son, 

Claude 

My  darling  Mother, — Just  a  line  to  let  you 
know  that  I  am  in  excellent  form,  though  very 
hard  worked,  having  done  eleven  and  a  quarter 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  117 

hours  in  four  days,  which  is  rather  stiff  considering 
the  heights  vary  from  6000  feet  upward,  and 
"  Archie  "  has  been  increasingly  active  and  accurate. 

However,  I  think  things  will  cool  off  again  by 
the  end  of  next  week,  which  is  comforting. 

Moreover,  the  prospect  of  a  week's  leave  is  dis- 
tinctly cheering,  and  it  may  come  in  three,  or  four, 
or  ten,  or  eleven  days,  or  later,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances. 

We  are  rather  a  sad  little  party  just  now,  as 
"  B "  Flight  Commander  and  an  observer,  both 
awfully  good  fellows,  fell  victims  to  "  Archie  "  the 
day  before  yesterday. 

However,  H promptly  went  up  and  "  did 

in  "  one  of  their  scouts  in  return,  so  things  are  al- 
most square  again. 

The  weather  has  cleared  up  beautifully,  and 
shows  symptoms  of  starting  another  summer. 

I  saw  England  yesterday  for  the  first  time  from 
here. 

The  brilliant  white  cliffs  lining  a  sea  of  the  deep- 
est blue,  whilst  the  entire  world  lay  under  an  ocean 
of  mist,  tinged  pink  with  the  rising  sun,  was  a  sight 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  forget. 

One  does  see  most  wonderfully  beautiful  sights 
flying  high  at  dawn. 


ii8  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

The  shadow  of  the  machine  follows  one  along 
the  clouds  below,  surroundpd  by  a  white  halo, 
which  in  turn  is  encircled  by  a  complete  little  rain- 
bow. 

And  just  as  one  is  beginning  to  be  sentimental — 
"bang!"  goes  an  "Archie"  with  a  yellow  flame 
and  a  puff  of  smoke,  and  makes  you  jump  like  a 
jack-in-the-box  and  dodge  like  a  squib,  and  one's 
mind  returns  to  the  job  in  hand  with  a  jerk. 

Trying  to  take  photographs  yesterday  I  dived 
through  a  valley  in  the  clouds  down  to  6<xx)  feet, 
but  before  I  got  over  the  target  off  went  four  well- 
placed  4-inch  high  explosives,  and  I  was  back  in 
the  clouds  before  you  could  say  snap. 

However,  the  Germans  are  nothing  if  not  me- 
thodical, and  they  tried  to  pepper  the  entire  cloud! 

Rather  amusing. 

We  have  a  new  and  swollen-headed  youth  here 
(who  can't  have  been  properly  brought  up)  who  is 
training  as  an  observer,  and  who  is  very  given  to 
criticizing  pilots  and  their  flying. 

He  was  rash  enough  to  tell  me  that  he  didn't 
think  I  had  had  long  enough  in  the  air  to  be  safe, 
and  other  offensive  remarks  of  a  like  nature. 

Well,  having  finished  a  "  job  of  work,"  as  wire- 
less duty  is  called,  I  brought  him  back  to  the  aero- 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  119 

drome  with  the  fixed  determination  to  give  him  a 
lesson ;  so  I  tail-slid  him,  and  side-slipped,  and  nose- 
dived, and  stalled,  and  pitched,  and  rolled. 

Towards  the  end  of  five  minutes  he  looked  round 
very  sheepishly  and  said  he'd  be  ill  in  a  minute; 
naturally  I  sympathized  deeply,  and  gave  two  colos- 
sal tosses! 

He  was  wrong,  he  didn't  hold  out  for  nearly  a 
minute,  and  I  must  confess  I  was  cruel  enough  to 
slow  up  the  machine  in  order  that  he  could  hear 
me  chuckling. 

I  haven't  heard  him  criticize  my  flying  since. 

Alas  for  him,  he  had  me  as  a  pilot  again  to-day, 
and  I  brought  him  over  the  aerodrome  at  much  the 
same  height. 

However,  as  he  had  made  so  much  fuss  about 
the  previous  performance,  I  brought  him  down 
"  sarcastically  " — that  is  to  say,  so  slowly  that  he 
might  have  been  a  rich  and  elderly  relation. 

But  all  to  no  purpose;  he  had  already  been  ill 
at  the  prospect  of  what  he  thought  he'd  have  to  go 
through. 

Dear,  dear,  it's  a  hard  world,  but  it's  a  bilious 
air! 

Good-by  for  the  present;  fondest  love  to  all. — 
Your  loving  son,  Claude 


120  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

France 

My  darling  Mother, — It  must  seem  quite  an 
age  since  I  last  wrote  to  you. 

We  have  had  quite  a  gay  time  for  the  last  three 
days,  though  very  little  in  the  flying  line. 

On  Monday,  the  weather  being  pleasantly  un- 
pleasant, we  "  Dunkirked  "  in  the  afternoon,  lunched 
there  and  did  some  shopping,  but  returned  almost 
immediately,  as  the  roads  were  so  bad  that  we 
didn't  like  to  face  them  in  the  dark. 

Tuesday  proved  a  very  rough  morning,  but  after 

tea  four  of  us  went  into  the  little  town  of  X , 

four  miles  from  here,  to  a  cinema. 

The  show  is  run  by  the  Sixth  Corps,  and  en- 
tertains two  to  three  hundred  men  every  night. 

Fancy  an  army  carrying  a  cinematograph  with  it ! 

Unfortunately,  we  got  back  too  late  for  the  post. 
Next  morning  the  news  leaked  out  that  the  King 
was  going  to  inspect  us. 

About  6000  infantry  were  paraded  on  the  aero- 
drome, and  a  flagstaff  erected  in  the  centre. 

The  Flying  Corps  were  well  represented,  I  had 
had  instructions  to  fly  up  and  around,  to  give  the 
show  a  "  finishing  touch,"  but  a  darned  thunder- 
storm came  up  and  provided  that  instead! 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  121 

The  King  arrived  at  10.30,  and  the  men  marched 
past  in  great  style. 

Unfortunately  the  rain  prevented  the  royal  party, 
including  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  accompanied 
by  Sir  John  French,  from  coming  round  the  sheds 
afterwards,  though  a  number  of  the  Staff,  com- 
monly called  *'  Tin-hats,"  had  to  be  shown  round. 

Two  buttonholed  me,  and,  there  being  no  means 
of  an  honorable  retreat,  I  did  the  "  showman  act " 
for  half  an  hour. 

In  the  evening  the  entire  flight,  with  two  ex- 
ceptions, motored  into  X to  see  a  "  pierrot 

show  "  there,  run  by  five  officers  and  two  Belgian 
girls,  who  are  let  off  for  the  purpose  of  entertain- 
ing the  men. 

Darned  good  show,  too!  Anything  that  makes 
one  forget  the  war  for  a  couple  of  hours  is  very 
welcome. 

I  ran  across  a  chap  I  knew  at  Eastbourne  at  "  The 
Fancies,"  as  they  style  themselves. 

I  believe  he  and  I  used  to  have  hotly  contested 
competitions  for  the  bottom  seat  in  class. 

Honors  were  more  or  less  even,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  right. 

I  told  him  to  come  over  this  way  on  the  oflf-chance 
of  getting  a  joy-ride.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 


laa  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

"joy"  part  of  the  proceeding^  is  usually  one- 
sided— ^the  pilot's  side. 

More  rain  again  this  morning ;  indeed,  "  an  ideal 
dawn  and  very  promising,"  as  we  remarked  at 
breakfast. 

There  are  rumors,  though  as  yet  not  officially 
confirmed,  that  the  strength  of  the  R.F.C.  is  being 
reduced  in  the  winter  to  ten  pilots  per  squadron, 
instead  of  the  present  strength  of  twelve. 

The  only  way  it  would  seem  to  affect  the  remain- 
der would  be  that  leave  would  come  a  week  sooner 
each  time,  and  very  nice,  too ! 

At  the  present  rate  of  progress,  another  four 
weeks  ought  to  see  me  home  again. 

I  had  a  very  nice  letter  from  Mrs.  D and 

G yesterday,  and  of  course  one  from  you  too. 

By  the  way,  I  forgot  to  mention  that  yesterday 

afternoon  I  had  to  do  an  aerial  patrol  over  B , 

as  the   King  was  reviewing  some  troops  there. 

Fearfully  rough  up,  as  we,  H and  I,  spent 

most  of  our  time  dodging  thunder  storms,  but  in 
the  absence  of  "  Archie  "  the  trip  was  distinctly 
pleasant. 

A  perfect  gale  is  in  progress  just  now.  The 
trees  are  shedding  their  leaves,  while  the  rain  is 
beating  an  infernal  tattoo  on  the  roof,  which,  being 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  123 

of  canvas  stretched  on  a  wood  frame,  resounds  like 
a  drum. 

I  have  got  an  extensive  stock  of  letters  to  polish 
off  by  to-night's  post,  so  I'll  shut  down  for  the  day. 
Love  to  all. 

[This  is  Claude's  last  letter.  He  wrote  a  few  lines 
on  the  8th  to  say  he  "  would  be  home  in  a  few 
days  on  leave,"  but  he  never  came,  for  he  went 
out  on  the  morning  of  the  nth  November  and 
did  not  return.  He  was  reported  "  missing," 
and  it  was  nearly  a  month  before  he  was  known 
to  have  been  killed  in  mid-air  that  morning, 
fighting  two  German  aeroplanes.] 

France, 
November  5,  191 5 
My  darling  Mother^ — Success  at  last !    Had  a 
real  adventure,  involving  several  minor  ones  in  its 
train,  and  it  was  thuswise: — 

Yesterday  being  the  first  fine  day,  I  had  in- 
structions to  go  up  in  an  F.E.,  with  P as 

observer,  to  take  some  photographs  over  X : 

about  the  most  unpleasant  job  going,  as  the  numer- 
ous woods  about  there  are  absolutely  bristling  with 
"  Archies "  of  no  mean  prowess,  as  I  can  testify, 
having   had,   perforce,   to   sample   some   of   their 


124  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

wares  on  many  a  reconnaissance  of  late.  It  took  us, 
roughly,  an  hour  to  get  up  to  9,000  feet,  which  time 

we  spent  between  Y and   X ,   climbing, 

climbing,  and  climbing  still.  The  air  was  pretty 
full  of  machines,  it  being  the  first  fine  day  for  some 
considerable  time.  We  saw  no  Huns,  though  we 
afterwards  heard  that  there  were  three  hanging 
about  behind  their  lines,  and  worrying  a  number  of 
our  fellows  doing  photography.    Twenty  to  twelve 

found  us  east  of  X ,  not  far  short  of  10,000  feet 

up,  and  distinctly  chilly. 

A  biplane  and  a  monoplane  appeared  east  of  us, 
the  biplane  leading,  with  ample  evidence  of  being 
in  a  hurry,  with  the  monoplane — which  appeared 
to  be  one  of  our  "  Morane  "  type — overhauling  it 
hands  over  fists.  We  were  about  2500  feet  above 
the  buses,  and  when  within  about  a  mile  I  got  a 
glimpse  of  the  monoplane's  top  wing.  Black  crosses 
on  a  white  base!    Good  enough! 

Down  went  my  F.E.'s  nose  almost  vertically,  my 
observer  standing  on  the  wireless  set,  which  in  the 
normal  flying  position  is  straight  up  in  front  of 
the  passenger  seat,  but  in  the  present  case  was  of 
course  considerably  more  horizontal  than  the 
"  floor."  Two  thousand  feet  we  came  down,  while 
the  air-speed  indicator  went  up  to  160  m.p.h.  and 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  125 

then  stuck — not  having  been  designed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exceeding  recognized  limits.  I  expected  the 
F.E.  to  fold  up  under  the  strain  any  moment,  but 
she  stood  it  like  a  rock. 

By  this  time  the  other  two  machines  were  almost 
vertically  below  us.  The  Hun  had  caught  up  the 
Be.Qc,  and  was  emptying  his  gun  into  it  at  50 
yards'  range.  It  subsequently  transpired  that  just 
at  this  moment  he  had  put  three  bullets  in  the  ob- 
server's arm,  and  one  through  the  main  petrol  tank, 
with  the  result  that  the  precious  fluid  was  pouring 
all  over  pilot,  observer,  and  fusilage. 

I  started  pulling  the  F.E.  out  of  her  nose  dive 
about  200  feet  above  the  Hun,  as  too  sudden  a 
shock  would  inevitably  have  crumpled  her  up.  The 
consequence  was  that  we  found  ourselves  above  and 
behind  the  unfortunate  Teuton,  and  within  20  yards 
of  him.  To  my  mind  he  never  saw  us  until  we 
opened  fire.  Thank  the  Lord,  the  machine-gun 
worked,  for  a  change!  Twenty  rounds  of  lead 
were  planted  into  the  back  of  his  neck,  though 
apparently  they  did  not  hit  him.  He  then  turned 
his  attention  to  us,  turning  left-handed  and  passing 
directly  below  us.  This  necessitated  our  getting  on 
to  a  perpendicular  bank,  and  doing  a  complete  cir- 
cuit to  see  where  he'd  got  to.    The  little  beggar  was 


126  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

describing  circuits  round  us,  while  we  did  a  sort  of 
"  inner  circle,"  conducted,  of  course,  with  a  per- 
pendicular bank;  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  our 
speed  was  so  great,  and  that  we  were  doing  complete 
turns  in  about  twice  the  length  of  our  machine,  the 

centrifugal  force  was  so  great  that  P couldn't 

hold  the  machine-gun  on  its  mounting.  As  it  is 
hinged  centrally,  the  heavier  half  being  inwards,  it 
swung  down,  and  though  the  whole  gun  only  weighs 
twenty-eight  pounds  he  could  not  pull  it  up  square. 

Things  being  at  the  moment  at  a  distinctly  unsatis- 
factory status,  we  weren't  sorry  to  see  the  Hun 
head  for  home.     After  him  we  went,  both  diving 

lustily,   while  P (more   familiarly  known  as 

"  Pongo  ")  gave  him  the  rest  of  the  drum — another 
twenty-eight  rounds. 

I  was  beginning  to  get  a  little  anxious,  as  we  were 
getting  very  low  and  expecting  **  Archie "  to  get 
us  any  minute — when  we  got  him. 

A  lucky  shot  found  its  billet,  and  the  pilot  was  no 
more. 

The  evolutions  that  machine  described  falling 
7000  feet  with  no  man  at  the  wheel  were  extra- 
ordinary. 

Viewed  from  above — first  wheels  up,  then  right 
way  again,  a  loop,  several  cartwheels,  a  nose  dive, 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  127 

more  loops,  and  several  turns  on  to  and  off  its  back, 
sideways,  until  it  was  lost  to  sight  almost  on  the 
ground.    Good  enough ! 

By  this  time  another  F.E.,  a  Bristol  Scout,  and 
two  C.c.'s  had  arrived,  but — fortunately  for  me — 
too  late  to  claim  a  share  in  the  finale. 

The  next  I  remember  doing  was  looking  at  my 
watch,  12.45. 

The  incident  over,  we  started  climbing  again,  as 
those  infernal  photographs  had  to  be  done.  At  this 
point  the  engine  began  to  have  a  say  in  the  matter, 
and  one  cylinder  decided  to  strike.  So  homeward 
we  wended  our  weary  way,  though,  I  must  confess, 
not  without  a  frequent  exchange  of  handshakes  and 
chuckles. 

Quite  an  ovation  on  landing — the  only  person  who 
wasn't  cheery  was  the  unfortunate  observer  of  the 
Q.c.  who  entered  into  the  commencement  of  the 
scrap.  The  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  Johnny 
who'd  pushed  three  holes  into  his  right  arm — con- 
siderately avoiding  to  touch  the  bone — had  been 
properly  strafed,  didn't  bear  any  weight.  However, 
he'd  had  a  rotten  time  in  the  air;  it  wasn't  to  be 
wondered  at. 

This  little  beggar  we  had  the  luck  to  account  for 
had,  in  company  with  two  Aviatiks,  given  two  other 


128  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Q.c.'s  of  ours  a  busy  time  when  they  were  on  pho- 
tography and  reconnaissance  duties,  which  rather 
mitigates  the  sorrow  which  one  naturally  feels  for 
the  poor  beggars,  whom  the  laws  of  war  made  our 
victims,  though  they  might  have  been  the  best  of 
fellows  in  themselves. 

The  major  was  delighted,  as  it  was  the  first 
machine  of  this  type  to  show  up  in  this  quarter.  A 
number  of  "  Fokkers,"  as  the  German  Moranes  are 
called,  have  been  giving  our  machines  a  lot  of 
trouble  down  south,  and  it  is  rather  thought  that 
this  one  may  have  been  a  picked  pilot  sent  up 
to  put  some  more  heart  into  the  other  machines 
working  in  this  sector  of  the  Front. 

For  his  first  appearance  he  had  certainly  done 
remarkably  well,  driving  off  three  of  our  machines 
and  wounding  an  observer.  For  speed  and  climb, 
he  left  our  machines  absolutely  standing,  so  he  was 
well  out  of  the  way. 

I  must  say  that  he  was  the  first  German  we  have 
run  across  who  put  up  anything  like  a  real  decent 
show,  and  our  jubilation  is  tinged  with  regret  at  the 
loss  of  a  very  gallant  fellow.  So  much  for  the 
episode  itself. 

We  got  back  satisfactorily  to  a  late  lunch,  and 
soon  after  having  entered  up  our  report  as  to 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  129 

whether  or  not  it  was  worth  salving,  were  granted 
permission  to  go  up  to  the  wreckage.  Meanwhile 
complications  arose.  An  Anti- Aircraft  ass  who, 
as  usual,  knew  about  as  much  of  his  job  as  a  cat 
does  of  cooking,  had  'phoned  up  to  the  "  V  "  Corps 
to  say  that  a  "  Vickers  "  had  brought  down  a  Ger- 
man machine  inside  our  lines.  No.  5  Squadron, 
who  share  the  aerodrome  with  us  and  have  some 
*'  Vickers  "  machines,  promptly  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  to  them  was  the  credit,  and  sent  in  a  claim 
to  it  to  the  Wing  Headquarters. 

The  Major's  tactics  were  masterful.  You  remem- 
ber, I  told  you  that  at  the  close  of  the  scrap  another 
F.E.,  a  Bristol  Scout,  two  Q.c.'s,  and  sundry  others 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  of  the  fracas  up  aloft? 
Well,  he  instructed  each  pilot  to  send  in  a  report  of 
what  he  saw.  Five  witnesses  all  round  us  and  ample 
— not  to  say  irrefutable — evidence  that  no  "  Vick- 
ers "  had  been  within  ten  miles  of  the  scene  all  day. 
Result:  Verdict  for  my  Squadron. 

P and  I,  with  a  flight-sergeant  from  my  flight 

and  a  mechanic,  set  out  about  four  by  car.     We 

turned  off  the road  just  after  passing ,  and 

left  the  car  down  a  side-road  and  waded  through 
twelve  inches  of  liquid  mud  for  300  yards  to  the 
Headquarters  of  an  Artillery  Brigade,  where  they 


130  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

insisted  on  us  having  tea.  By  this  time  it  was  dark, 
and  a  mist  was  in  the  making.  Thence  we  were 
directed  through  more  seas  upon  seas  of  mud  to  an 
Infantry  Brigade  Headquarters — our  primary  ob- 
jective. Here,  after  considerable  delay,  due  to  the 
fact  that  one  brigade  was  moving  in  and  another 
out,  we  got  a  very  braw  Scotsman  for  guide.  After 
that  the  journey  is  beyond  description;  words  fail 
me  when  trying  to  portray  the  journey  four  miles 
in  the  dark  and  a  thickening  mist.  For  a  mile  we 
kept  our  direction  by  holding  one  hand  on  a  wire 
run  along  posts  three  feet  high  for  that  purpose, 
through  woods,  across  fields,  over  trenches,  jumping 
ditches  when  one  could,  and  wading  through  when 
one  couldn't.  Never  less  than  six  inches  mud,  and 
sometimes  so  thick  that  it  was  impossible  to  shift  a 
leg  without  pulling  it  out  of  the  morass,  by  hand  if 
you  please! 

We  thereupon  struck  a  wooden  track,  known  as 
the  "  ration  railway,"  having  wooden  lines  with 
trucks  worked  by  hand.  Imagine  if  you  can  the 
difficulties  of  keeping  one's  footing  stepping  from 
sleeper  to  sleeper  when  they  were  under  four  inches 
of  mud  and  water  at  irregular  intervals  and  only 
three  inches  wide,  slippery  as  an  eel  into  the  bar- 
gain.   When  you  missed  one — which  you  did  every 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  131 

third  or  fourth  step  (if  you  were  lucky,  or  every 
other  one  if  you  weren't) — you  were  up  to  your 
knees  or  sometimes  over  them  in  the  slime,  without 
exaggerating  one  atom.  A  mile  of  line  had  been 
followed  by  this  distinctly  laborious  method  when  it 
finally  disappeared  from  sight  altogether  under  a 
pond. 

A  consultation  which  we  proceeded  to  hold  was 
disturbed  by  a  mysterious  creaking,  much  splashing, 
and  a  volume  of  oaths  in  an  outlandish  tongue, 
which  I  came  to  the  conclusion  was  Gaelic.  Behold, 
through  the  pond  streamed  a  battalion  of  the  Royal 
Scots  coming  out  of  the  trenches  for  a  rest.  There 
being  obviously  nothing  for  it  but  to  take  the 
plunge,  we  waded  knee-deep  in  water,  and  followed 
the  direction  of  the  track,  using  the  various  bag- 
gage trucks  on  the  line,  with  their  attendant  per- 
spiring Scotties,  as  milestones. 

The  ground  being  strewn  with  shell-holes  with 
the  regularity  of  a  honeycomb,  I  was  lucky  to  get 
off  with  four  immersions,  some  members  of  the 
party  faring  worse.  Three  miles  were  covered  in 
this  way,  and  we  weren't  sorry  to  find  ourselves  in 
a  wood,  covering  the  battalion  headquarters  that 
we  had  to  interview,  A  chat  and  a  drink  of  water, 
— and  even  that  is  precious  up  there, — and  an  officer 


132  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

volunteered  to  take  us  out  to  the  scene  of  the  crash. 

A  walk  of  five  hundred  yards — more  mud,  more 
water — ^brought  us  up  to  a  line  of  trenches  and  dug- 
outs about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  German 
trenches,  though  screened  from  those  nearest  us  by 
a  slight  rise  in  between.  That  we  were  in  unpleas- 
ant proximity  was  soon  apparent,  as  the  phew! 
phew!  of  the  bullets  came  with  most  disturbing 
regularity.  All  the  time,  star-shell  magnesium 
flares  went  up  and  made  you  stand  still  as  a  rock, 
as  the  least  movement  would  give  one  away.  But 
by  now  we  had  reached  the  wreckage.  As  far  as 
I  gathered,  viewed  from  the  ground,  the  fall  was 
full  of  excitement,  and  our  troops  for  four  miles 
along  the  lines  had  stood  up  and  cheered  to  a  man 
for  several  minutes  on  end. 

In  fact,  a  few  had  said  to  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  battalion,  so  he  told  us,  that  they  all  felt  it 
was  worth  four  days'  discomfort  to  see  it  come 
down  7000  feet,  as  the  engine  was  going  all  the 
time,  and  he  only  took  thirty-five  seconds  to  drop 
the  best  part  of  two  miles.  You  can  imagine  the 
pace  it  was  going  when  it  hit  the  ground !  Finishing 
its  descent  in  a  nose  dive,  as  I  said  with  its  engine 
going,  it  first  struck  the  top  of  a  dug-out.  It  would 
seem  that  fellows  watching  its  descent,  and  seeing 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  133 

its  course  to  be  headed  towards  them,  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  dug-out.  The  roof  was  built  of 
trunks  of  trees  of  reassuring  dimensions,  covered 
with  three  feet  of  earth. 

The  impact  was  so  great  that,  owing  to  the 
weight  of  the  engine,  it  had  gone  slap  through  the 
roof  and  buried  its  nose  into  the  bottom  of  the  dug- 
out, leaving  a  portion  of  its  tail  outside,  but  the 
rest  so  telescoped  as  to  occupy  not  more  than  a 
cubic  yard.  Remembering  the  fact  that  this  type  of 
machine  has  an  all-steel  frame,  and  that  behind  the 
pilot's  seat  there  is  nothing  of  weight,  it  helps  to 
emphasize  what  a  colossal  speed  he  must  have  been 
travelling.  The  four  occupants  of  the  dug-out  were 
all  wounded  as  a  result,  but  none  seriously.  One 
in  particular  lay  there  under  the  impression  that  he 
was  in  another  world  for  some  time!  About  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  after  striking,  the  debris  caught 
fire,  possibly  due  to  the  shells  which  the  Germans 
promptly  proceeded  to  put  over.  It  was  then  that 
the  **  would-be-corpse  "  decided  that  a  little  activity 
might  be  helpful,  and  as  he  had  begun  to  smoulder, 
he  was  dropped  into  a  convenient  shell-hole  full  of 
water,  which  restored  him  to  his  status  ante-crash,  if 
one  may  coin  an  expression.  The  debris  was  still 
smouldering  when  we  got  there.    Of  what  we  saw 


134  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

in  that  dug-out  ten  feet  by  twelve  feet,  by  the  light 
of  an  electric  torch  through  the  smoke  and  smell,  the 
time  being  midnight,  and  shells  going  off  all  around, 
I  shall  never  forget  as  long  as  I  live. 

Beyond  repeating  the  official  report  I  sent  in, 
details  would  be  too  blood-curdling  to  put  on 
paper.  I  don't  think  such  a  situation  has  been 
conceived  in  the  most  hair-raising  novel  ever 
written. 

Awful,  isn't  it?  Shook  my  nerve  up  to  a  mince, 
but  it  may  straighten  out  again  soon.  Personally,  I 
couldn't  stick  it  for  more  than  a  few  minutes,  and 
fled  into  the  fresh  air,  though  a  particularly  close 
"  phew-phut !  "  drove  me  into  the  trench  again.  A 
half-hour's  wait,  while  the  sergeant  and  mechanic 
made  a  more  thorough  examination  and  traced 
many  peculiar  items  of  interest. 

As  mementoes  of  a  very  gruesome  occasion,  I 
have  got  two  decoration  ribbons  the  observer  was 
wearing,  though  no  medals  were  found;  one  of  the 
ribbons  is  that  of  the  Iron  Cross.  I  have  also  the 
magneto  from  the  engine,  and  a  pistol  for  firing 
colored  flares  to  range  their  anti-aircraft  batteries 
on  our  machines,  a  portion  of  the  fabric  and  plane 
(though  the  crosses  from  the  wings  had  already  been 
collared),  and  a  few  regimental  buttons  from  the 


CLAUDE'S  LETTERS  135 

pilot's  tunic,  which  we  shared  out  to  the  mechanic 
and  sergeant  with  us. 

Starting  home  soon  after  twelve,  the  process  of 
alternate  wading,  staggering,  paddling,  and  wal- 
lowing was  repeated  with  an  increased  intensity, 
owing  to  the  mist  having  become  a  proper  old  fog. 
Besides  getting  lost  several  times,  we  did  an  un- 
necessary four  miles,  as  we  missed  the  proper  turn- 
ing. As  you  may  guess,  we  were  mighty  thankful 
to  find  our  tender  again,  and  infernally  fagged  too. 
But  our  adventures  were  not  at  end  even  then. 

Of  course  we  are  not  allowed  lights  out  there, 
and  we  ran  slap  into  a  horse  and  wagon,  fortunately 
missing  the  former,  who  proceeded  to  bolt  into  the 
fog  in  the  opposite  direction. 

More  than  once  one  wheel  of  the  car  went  into 
a  shell-hole,  and  such  a  jolting  as  we  got  takes  a 
long  time  to  forget. 

You  may  be  sure  we  weren't  sorry  to  turn  into 
the  aerodrome  at  two  o'clock  this  morning,  as  we 
hadn't  had  a  bite  for  what  must  be  easily  the  most 
eventful  twelve  hours  of  my  life. 

Having  sorted  out  and  apportioned  the  relics,  we 
turned  in,  and  as  for  myself,  slept  like  a  top. 

Thanks  so  much  for  your  letters  and  the  maga- 
zines— I  have  read  the  article  by  the  "  Junior  Sub," 


136  CLAUDE'S  BOOK 

Just  off  to  bye-bye.  I'm  afraid  this  is  too  late 
for  to-night's  post,  but  I  thought  it  better  to  get  it 
finished,  as  you  may  suppose  I  hadn't  even  time  for 
a  P.C.  yesterday. 

Good-by,  mother  dear;  thank  you  and  Dad  so 
much  for  your  letters.  Fondest  love  to  all. — ^Your 
loving  son,  Claude 


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